Her Nemesis
by frozenalchemy
Summary: Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. By order, she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog. Now, a new war between the military and her base has erupted. How will they react to this? EdWin.
1. Amid Darkness

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst  
****Editor: Tegilbor  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry, as a cold deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? EdWin.  
**A/N: My first fanfic ever! Please R&R

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---------------------------------------Her Nemesis---------------------------------------

Chapter 1 – Amid Darkness

The air was silent still, and the tension was on once more. From distance, I could see him dressed in a black tuxedo, leaning against a white pillar of the empty park. He looked as if he were waiting for someone, but to be more precise, he was waiting for me. I came near him, and muttered a small greeting, asking him if I had made him waiting too long.

"Who are you? Were you the one who called me?" He asked, with confusion in his eyes.

"Yes," I replied quietly.

"Do I know you? Forgive me, I may have known you, but well, I just couldn't recall you, and your voice. Who are you?" He asked me again, frowning, as if he were still making the best effort to remember who I was.

"Relax. You don't know me," I smiled at him, making his face a little more relaxed. "Yet I do know who you are. And the reason that I called you tonight, is simply to say goodbye."

"I don't understand," He replied, with a hint of annoyance from his voice.

"I'm sorry. I don't have time to explain. I would love talking to you, but I'm afraid time is short. Don't worry, your confusion shall be over soon," I assured him.

"But-"

I smiled, and slowly raised my Nemesis, cutting off his word. "Surprise," I whispered to him.

His confusion turned into fear. He raised and pointed his trembled fingers at me. "You, what do you want? Put it down. Put that thing down. What do you want? Money? I can give you as much as you want. Just put that thing down. I'll give you anything, what-what do you want?"

"Your life," I replied quietly, walking forward, and still pointing my Nemesis at him. I pulled her trigger, and a loud bang was heard. The sound of explosion that I've heard too many times, became the bell of his requiem.

It took him a whole three seconds to be completely still on the ground. I stared at the motionless figure lying on the white cold marble floor, beautiful scarlet blood slowly leaking out of him. Another piece of life was gone in a second.

He was a tall man, in his mid thirties, decent looking, with well-built body. Thick neck, and perfectly tanned skin. His every step was full of confidence, and his aura consisted of strong and precise presence. Yet, at that moment, he was nothing more than a motionless figure, so lifeless, and so imperfect. The edges of his dark hair soaked into the stunning color of his blood, a scene that always scared me, yet fascinated me at the same time.

Watching him, I understood the unwritten fact: the fragility of human life. I lived up to that knowledge, I was aware of it, and I feared it. A _bang _and that is all it took for a life to be taken away. A _bang _and you are gone.

I walked away from the scarlet corpse, closing my eyes, inhaling the sour smell of the fresh blood. I made my way outside the building and closed the door of the now empty ballroom, whispering my late goodbye.

The sky was black, and the rain was pouring hard. Great, I thought in sarcasm. I did not bring an umbrella. It would take too long to wait for the rain to stop, so I started walking. There were no pedestrians on the road, only a few cars were passing by, none of them noticing me.

My black coat was heavy and soaked by the rain, and water in puddles was splashing on my boots. I hated the rain, yet I had to keep on walking. The only way for me to get over with this, was to continue moving forward, no matter how much I detested it.

I sighed and looked down at my hands. Another life was taken, another existence erased; another lost.

Fifteen minutes later, I arrived in the Para's base. It was a tall building, thirty storages high, dark windows, with white and grey walls. A sign "Prelude Insurance Company" was inscribed on the front entrance: a fake sign. It was not for a company that the building was used. It was the Para.

I entered the front gate, and a man in his fifties greeted me. We called him Jade. It was not his real name, and I did not know what his real name was. Yet he was there, everyday, guarding the front gate even before I arrived in Para. I noticed the empty chair besides Jade's. Usually, there was tall man with glasses sitting there, but not today.

"Hey Winry! A late job tonight?" He asked, sucking in his pipe.

"Yeah," I replied shortly. "You are alone tonight?"

"What, you don't trust me kid?" He said, laughing behind the tick grey smoke from his pipe. "I may not be as agile as I used to have been, but my aim is still one of the best here."

I laughed with him, before excusing myself. Jade was a nice guy, with good sense of humor. Yet I did not feel like talking to him tonight. A familiar thick cloud was hanging in my head, with the all too familiar feeling that I got after every time I finish my job.

Jade mumbled and pressed the passwords on the locked gate before letting me in.

"Meet you again soon, kid!" I heard him saying loudly. I waved to him before walking inside.

* * *

I walked slowly to my room, passed the empty and dull corridor. I sighed. This is going to be another of those long nights. I opened the door of my room. Nothing changed, still the same as the way I had left it earlier. It was a simple room with a small bed, a cupboard, an empty desk, a small round table with a vase of white plastic lilies on it, and a computer in the corner. Everything was white: the wall and the floor, the sheet and the cover, the blinds, the desk, and every piece of furniture. I never bothered to add anything with a different color; not because I hated another color, but simply because I had no good reason to have one. It might seem to be too simple of a room for a teenage girl, but its plainness attracts me.

The bathroom was located next to my bed. It was another one of the plain white room, with a shower and a tab. I removed my boots and my rain-soaked clothes in the bathroom, and took a long hot shower. I wanted to cry, and I wanted to scream, but for what? There is no reason for me to do so. I did not lose anything; nothing had been taken away from me. It was I, who took their lives away.

_I did not lose anything_. I tried to assure myself that simple statement. It did not work. It never worked. After those jobs, all I felt was emptiness. I felt like I was a big giant hole that was craving to do something, but without success. The water was pouring to my face, and I sighed again. I could no longer tell the difference between my own tears and the water from the shower. Perhaps I did not cry at all, or even if I did, it did not matter anyway.

After the shower, I lay down in the bed, and closed my eyes, welcoming the darkness that surrounded me. Being in the dark made me feel at ease. There were times when the darkness scared me, but in the times like this, it gave me a calm and peaceful feeling.

Third time of the month, and I was already feeling uneasy: the image of him lying on the cold marble floor, the way his right hand reached out for me right before he fell, the hopeless light shining in his brown eyes… I shook my head, trying to get the image away from me. I turned my body, burying my face against the soft pillow. By tomorrow morning, I thought. By tomorrow morning his dead body would be found. I tried picturing a janitor, or a gardener coming to work the next morning, whistling away with one hand carrying a broom – only to find a corpse lying down in the pool of crimson blood.

After what seemed to have been hours, or even ages, the image finally blurred away and I was in the darkness once more.

* * *

The next morning I woke up and found my pillow damped by the tears that I shed from a dream last night - a dream that I could not remember.

By afternoon, there was still no call from the Para, no new job for me to do, no life for me to take. Just for today, I sighed in relief, and walked outside. The snow was falling softly – the first snow of the year. I walked quietly, passing the busy Central Street. There were all kinds of people walking fast and passing me, not even casting a glance at me. For them, I thought, I was simply an invisible presence who strolled alone in my own world: alone and quiet, just the way I liked it to be.

I sat in a coffee shop, and looked at them, those high school girls in uniforms. They walked and they laughed. I wondered what life truly meant; is it the ordeal of survival, or is it the joy of life that truly counts. We, gunslingers of Para, pulled our triggers to continue life, even by the means of taking the lives of others. The more people we shot, the less hard it seemed to pull the triggers. We took lives in exchange of survival, yet I was not sure if each of us actually owned an individual life. In the outside, we seemed to control human lives, but in reality, deep within the Para itself, we were controlled, by a force greater than our imagination. Although in an outsider's eyes, the gunslingers of Para were in charge, but we were simply nothing more than a group of human beings, trying to justify the reason of life.

It wasn't fair. It didn't seem fair, but the world is not a fair place. Money controlled everything: life, goods, fame, and love. Yes, even love. I have known countless wealthy businessmen, and mafia bosses. They got what they wanted. They got the life they wanted: fame and women. We worked with them, all the time. I never liked them, yet I was used to it. It didn't matter how much we despised them; their money controlled us. It wasn't fair, yet I could do nothing but to follow the flow of the procedures and the deals. It sounded stupid, yet I could not deny it.

I paid for my coffee, and sat alone on the bench of the park. It seemed that there was nothing for me to do but to sit and watch. I did not want to go back to the Para base. I hated it… its tense atmosphere, its cold and bitter air, and the smell of death. I did not want to go back, although deep down I knew, that it was the only place to which I belonged: like a chained and trained dog… I would still have to go back inside it, regardless how much I hated it. Yet at that moment, all I did was to sit alone on the bench of the park, looking at the sky.

I loved watching the snow falling. Fragments of ice dancing their way down to the ground… a beauty that lasted but a moment. When morning comes, and the sun rises up in the sky, the snow would melt away, leaving nothing and remaining only in the memory of its adorer. Yet even those memories would not stay forever. There are times when the falling beauty would soon be forgotten, until the next winter, when it would fall once more, dancing all over again. The cycle would continue: dancing away to be forgotten until the next dance emerges. Nothing lasted forever. Not even the dance of the fallen beauty. Not even its memory. Nothing. I sat quietly under the snow, wondering how it would feel to be one.

* * *

"See these pictures?" a voice called out of the computer's speaker.

It had been days since my last walk in the Central.

"Observe them carefully, Winry," said the voice again. It was a cold, harsh voice.

"Yes sir," I replied. My heart throbbed in an unpleasant way. I was receiving my new job; a fourth one for this month. I looked at the picture: a teenage boy about my age, with braided blond hair, grinning like a child, standing, beside an empty metal suit of armor.

"You know what you're supposed to do, Winry. They are about your age, so we thought that you are the most suitable person for the job."

"Yes sir, I understand. I will not fail you," I replied coldly.

"I know you would not… you never did. You are one of the bests here, so I would be looking forward for it. Be conscious, they are quite a tough bunch… and a pretty famous one too."

"Yes sir."

"That is all," replied the voice for the last time. And the room was silent once more.

I looked at the picture in the screen for one more time.

_Edward Elric _and _Alphonse Elric_.

Their names were written next to the picture.

"The Elric brothers, huh?" I mumbled to myself, before turning off my computer screen. "Funny, I just had the feeling that tonight was going to be a little out of ordinary."

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-end of chapter 1

A/N: I hope you all enjoy that. A big thank you for my editor: Tegilbor.  
That is my first fanfiction ever. I will try my best to update it as soon as possible, so stay in tune! ...  
Reviews are hoped for.  
Tnx!

- FrozenAlchemy ✖


	2. The Fissure on Her Ice

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst  
****Editor: Tegilbor  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? EdWin.  
**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews… I really appreciate them. ****This story takes place in Amestris. **

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"Body cells replace themselves every month. Even at this very moment, most everything you think you know about me is nothing more than memories… In just this way, one day at a time, I learned to distance myself from 'memory,' until that day in the uncertain future when a distant voice calls from out of the lacquer blackness."

_Haruki Murakami_

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---------------------------------------Her Nemesis---------------------------------------

Chapter 2 – The Fissure on Her Ice

The Elric brothers weren't very hard to spot… especially Alphonse, with his giant suit of armor. I observed them in the distance. The older Elric, Edward, was rather short for his age. Clad in a red jacket, he had messy braided golden hair, and sharp golden eyes.

Those golden eyes… They were unusually familiar to me. There was something about those eyes that struck me as important… Something from a long, long time ago… Those eyes had stirred a deep memory that was buried inside me.

What is it? And more importantly… why?

Hard I tried to reach out for the memory… yet I could only see faint images of something that I could not make out.

* * *

Green trees and mountains in the background… A young boy… with golden eyes and hair… yet I cannot see his face… I hear voices… three different voices… they seem as if they are laughing… Why? What are they laughing at? And how? How do they manage to laugh so freely?

The imaged slowly blurred... and replaced by another one…

"_I'm going to be a national alchemist," _The young boy with the golden eyes declares… He has only one arm… _"So I may give myself an arm and a leg that will let me move freely!"_

And the image blurred again.

* * *

I shook my head, and pushed away the thoughts. There were too many questions floating around in my head… too much irrelevant information… and too many whys. I took a deep breath, and rose from my seat at the coffee shop.

I told myself that those memories had nothing to do with the job. All I need to do was to pull Nemesis' trigger, and I would be done with it. I should not make anything more complicated than it truly was. Those images… were just memories. And they were nothing more than images of the past devouring the future. In truth, memories are like invisible ropes, tying everyone to the past, holding them back from their advancing steps towards the future. And I, as a gunslinger of Para… should not, and would not be entangled by invisible ropes of emotion called memories.

I took a glance at the Elimination Card once more. It was a card that the Para base would send me before every job. The card was black, and the names Edward Elric and Alphonse Elric were printed in the middle of one side of the card with red ink. The word 'Para' was written in small letters, placed in the bottom right hand corner. The other side of the card was plain black. I stared at the names, and thought of the past victims, and how their names were written in the similar way.

The clock struck eight, and I knew that it was time for me to do the job: time for me to say goodbye to the Elric brothers. I followed them walking to the basement of an empty building. I knew that they felt my presence… that they were aware of my following. Yet to me, it did not matter. A couple of shots… and I would get over with this.

The atmosphere in the basement was damp and humid. Cold sharp wind was blowing through the cracks on the wall. The entire place had the color of ugly grey. I kept my distance from them, adjusting Nemesis at her ready position. The clicking noise of Alphonse's armor was the only sound to be heard… echoing throughout the seemingly empty building. Yet the rest was silence – almost too silent, even.

I waited for them to move. They knew my presence… I was sure of that. It was just a matter who was going to strike first. Cold sweat dripped from my forehead, and my palm turned cold. As far as I remembered, I had never been this nervous before. There was something disturbing about this particular job to me. Should I reveal myself to them, and shoot right away… or should I wait for them to ask for my presence?

"You there, what do you want from us?" Edward's voice broke the tense silence in the building, and at the same time answered my question. "We know you are there; reveal yourself!" His cold, demanding voice echoed throughout the entire empty building.

I quickly made my way towards them, sprinting, while aiming my Nemesis at Edward's eyes. I would have to deal with the younger one later… someone wearing a suit of armor would be definitely harder to deal with.

A second later, a bullet was flying towards his golden eyes. And just with the same speed as I shot him, he moved his right arm to protect his face.

"Game over," I thought to myself. A human hand would be a useless effort to stop my Nemesis from hitting him. I pulled her trigger for the second time, aiming at his right arm.

… I waited for three seconds, and still no blood. The bullet's smoke disappeared, and I saw him standing still. His red coat was torn by the right arm, revealing his automail. His eyes no longer showed the same coldness as his voice.

"Damn!" I cursed. I had forgotten about his automail. Yet there was no time for me to get angry at myself. I was about to shoot him for the third time, while something hard hit me from the back.

Alphonse.

His metal arm hit and pushed me to the ground, and I lost my balance. Yet before I fell, I shot a bullet towards Alphonse's chest. Tough luck, the bullet bounced back and scratched my left arm. I cursed again. Just when I got myself stood up, his armored leg kicked me hard, and my body flew backwards against the grey wall, with my Nemesis lying on the floor.

"Yesh!" I heard Edward shout, and transform his automail into a metal blade. I tried to reach out for Nemesis, fleeing from Edward and his blade.

"There," I said to myself, as my palm picked her up. My body hurt like hell, but I had no time to worry about it. 'It is now,' I thought, 'or never'.

I turned to face Edward, while buzzing noises were playing in my ears. I turned around, and my eyes were wide in disbelief. Edward was standing in front of me, while shooting out his blade, slashing me. Crimson blood – my blood - splashed everywhere. With my eyes still wide in shock, I fell to the ground… while Nemesis was thrown away from me. Never before in my life… did I feel so pathetic.

I grabbed and pulled her trigger for the last time, shooting Edward's right leg. Thick crimson blood leaked out of it, and I silently cheered.

The bullet however, seemed to make a little impact on him. A second later, I felt the grip of his cold metal arm on my throat. His golden eyes were on fire… a mixture of anger, wrath, and determination in his eyes. I could not look at anywhere but at those burning eyes, and for the first time in ages – I felt fear. This must be how the people I killed had felt: helplessness, defenselessness, and pure terror.

I tried to push him with my right arm – no use. His automail did not budge a single inch. I felt heat traveling my entire body, while my throat was burning. My legs were losing their strength and if it had not been for his metal arm that was chocking me, I should have had fallen straight to the floor.

"Kill her, brother!" I heard Alphonse's voice speak in the background. "She must be a homunculus!"

I saw Edward do a quick nod, before releasing his grip on my throat, only to transform his automail back into a blade.

I wanted to scream, but stopped myself from doing so. Whatever happens, I would not let them know my fear… I would not show them my helplessness… I would not…

I gasped as tears leaked out of my eyes. It surprised me, how weak I had become. I shivered in disgust of my own pathetic self, and through my blurry eyes, I saw his golden eyes soften, as if they were looking for something in mine.

"Winry?"

I gasped in surprise, while tears won't stop leaking out of my eyes. I frowned and looked at him.

"Are you… Winry?" asked Edward. His voice sounded like a whisper, and showed a great deal of uncertainty. The anger in his eyes was replaced by a question and hesitation.

I kept myself quiet. A million thoughts were running in my head. My whole body ached so badly that it was difficult for me to think. The last thing I remembered was my trying to ask him why. Yet I couldn't… my mouth would not open, and my voice would not come out. The only thing I could do was to look into his eyes, and fall into the darkness within them.

* * *

A blonde girl… two boys… the same children whom I saw earlier. Again, they are laughing… what is this? Where am I? Who are they? They seem so strangely familiar.

"_Until you guys return to normal, I will be supporting you!"_ says the blonde girl to the two boys in front of her… her voice sounds so cheerful… so light, and so confident. Her blue eyes are shining, as she looks at the small boy with golden eyes.

And the three laughs again.

* * *

The images blurred, and I opened my eyes. I tried to move, yet I couldn't; my whole body felt as if it were falling apart. The only thing I could do was to open my eyes, and observe the surroundings.

White walls, brown cupboards and furniture, white ceiling … with a yellow dim light dangling from it. I rubbed my eyes with my hand, only to notice that my limbs were bandaged.

"You've been sleeping there for the past three days, Winry," said Edward, with a pained smile on his face.

My first reaction was to grab my Nemesis – only to find it missing from its usual place. I silently cursed.

I used up most of my strength trying to sit up, facing him, with a questioned face. I wanted to ask him why he helped me, how he knew my name, why he had not killed me… but most of all… I wanted to ask him, who he truly was.

I opened my mouth, and a million thoughts crossed in my head.

"Why?" I croaked. For all the unanswered questions that popped in my mind… for all the wonders that I found within his eyes, and for all those memories that were falling on me… all I managed to say was, "Why?"

He smiled again: this time, with a little light shining in his pained expression.

"Why did I help you? Why didn't I kill you back then? How did I know your name?" He asked gently, sitting himself down right across me.

I nodded.

"Simple," He grinned. "Because I saw her in you… no, I saw her within your tears."

I blinked, staring at him in silence. There was nothing for me to say… despite all the questions that were streaming from my head… there was nothing for me to say at that moment.

He looked at me, and he laughed. "Winry… the reason why I did not kill you… the reason why I helped you… and how I knew your name, was simply that I saw the old Winry within your tears."

His laughter slowly died out, and was replaced with a sigh; the pained expression was back on his face.

"You don't remember… do you, Winry?" He asked, his voice showing a great deal of desperation, and his eyes staring deeply into mine, as if they were searching for something within my eyes.

I slowly shook my head. I did not understand what Edward was trying to tell me. I did not understand what he wanted me to remember.

I did not understand.

Yet there was something in him that was so disturbingly familiar. There was something within those eyes that reminded me so much about the past that I could not remember. In silence I looked at him, and I knew that he was the key for my memories; the key of the locked door of all the emotions that Para took away from me.

"Winry," he quietly said, frowning deeply, breaking the silence between us. "You've changed. Who are you now?"

I was silent.

"Why did you attack us, Winry?" Alphonse asked suddenly.

The metal armor sat still, showing no expression from its metal face. Yet I could still feel his broken self inside. I knew it by heart, that I was the one who broke their hearts apart. I was the one who was responsible for their invisible tears. Yet so much for that knowledge, I was missing one important answer, for I did not know why they held such a bond to my past, and who they really were.

"Why did you try to kill us, Winry? Answer me!" shouted the hollow armor. His voice sounded as if he were crying – for indeed he was, shedding the invisible tears behind his defensive metal shell.

I looked at Edward, and I saw him sigh.

"Let's go, Al. Let's talk about these things tomorrow. Winry is still recovering; let's not push her too hard," he said, and walked out of the door, followed by Alphonse.

I was alone in the room once more. Loneliness struck me like a giant black hole that was devouring me from the inside.

I slowly stood up, and dragged myself across my bed, where a tall thin mirror was located. Next to it, I noted, that there was a brown small desk, where I saw Nemesis laid on it. I stared at it for a few seconds, and turned away from it. A spark of relief entered my heart.

They trusted me.

They trusted me that I would not turn against them in the night. They trusted me, for they did not take Nemesis away from me.

They trusted me, and for the first time in many years… I smiled.

I stood in front of the mirror, and faced my reflection. I saw a girl, with blonde hair and a pair of blue eyes. She was not smiling, yet she was looking at me with a great deal of curiosity.

"_I saw her within your tears"_

I continued staring at the girl who was standing in the mirror, and I saw her cry. I raised my hand, and fingered the cold flat surface of the mirror. Still staring, I whispered, "Who are you?"

The girl in the mirror did nothing but to stare back at me. I walked back to my bed, and lied down there. And in a place far away from anyone or anywhere, I drifted off for a moment.

* * *

"Why did you attack us, Winry?" asked Alphonse again.

"And Winry, what does this mean?" asked Edward; he was holding the Elimination Card in his hand.

Through the window, I saw the sun rise, and the small birds fly.

"It's… the Elimination Card," I replied shortly.

"Whose order? Para? What is it? Does it mean… that you had to eliminate us? Because our names were written in there?" asked Edward.

"The Para… It's a lot more complicated than you think, Edward… I-"

"But you are not their marionette, Winry."

"It's my job, Edward. No other ways… I am bound to it… and I just had to do it."

"Wait," Edward stopped me. "Who ordered you to do this, Winry? Who is that person?"

"I never said anything about a person ordering me… I just…"

"Just say it, who is he?"

I shook my head. "He's… a person in Para… the only person whom I trust… and the one who always gives me the jobs."

"I see. This Para thing… Does it have to do with the military? Or does it only concern us?"

I sighed. "Both."

"So it's a war between the Para and the military… is it? And to begin with… they targeted us… am I right?"

I could not help but to nod; under his familiar, friendly voice my head moved despite myself.

There was silence...

And I opened my mouth once more. "Look, I won't try to go and eliminate you guys for the second time. For you, I am disobeying my order for the first time. Consider that as my return for not killing me," I said, turning myself towards Edward. "But the person you used to know; the Winry whom you used to know… had died long ago. What is left of her is I, the new Winry, the gunslinger of Para."

Edward smiled at me, and held my wrist in his palm.

"Contrary to your beliefs, I'm still sure that the Winry I used to know is still alive deep under your conscious mind," he whispered slowly. "And even if she had been buried forever, all I have to do is to get to know you, the new Winry, and after that… we can be friends all over again, right?" And he smiled.

"_We could be friends all over again, right?"_

Those words struck me hard, and I was stunned.

Friends.

It had been years… or even decades, since I heard the word that I longed for so much in my life. I had never realized it until then… that the reason of my emptiness, my loneliness… and my solitude… was that I longed for someone to call me a friend. And Edward did.

Before I knew it, Edward pulled me towards him, and hugged me.

"Welcome back, Winry," he whispered.

Before I knew it, tears started falling down from my eyes, onto his shoulder. And for once, I did not try to hide it; I was not ashamed of those tears, for they did not hold the fact of my sadness – but the truth of my happiness.

"You are helpless," He whispered in amusement after we pulled apart. "Your crying hasn't changed at all… Winry." And he grinned again.

And at that moment, I could also sense Alphonse's grin from behind the armor.

"By the way, Winry," called Edward. "Call me Ed. You used to call me that."

"And call me Al, Winry," laughed the voice inside the armor.

I smiled at them, and nodded. "Thank you, Ed and Al. I'm glad we've become friends. But I must go now. I need to return where I belong to. The war between Para and the Military hasn't ended yet. No, in fact… the real war is just starting to heat up," I said, walking out of the door. "Until then, goodbye."

I walked out of the door, with my Nemesis in hand. A lot had happened in the past few days. I could not describe what kind of feeling it was, but those small important words… were exactly what I needed in order to continue life.

I thought that I was ready to eliminate every being that I was assigned for. I thought that I was tough enough to do so. Yet I was proven wrong. Slowly, the image that I tried to pull… the masked that I tried to paint… was shattering apart.

My weakness... was flowing in my veins... Yet somehow I could feel warmth... From the distance I heard what sounded like their voices.

"It'll be a while Al, before she finally realizes the place where she truly belongs to. And until then, all we've got to do is to wait for her, till she returns to where she belongs."

"Yes, brother."

* * *

-end of chapter 2

A/N: Finally! Chapter 2 is up! How was it? Hope that all you guys would enjoy reading that. **Please post a review!!!** I'm really looking forward to reading them… I'm working on chapter 3 now… and will try to post it as soon as possible. Yup, still a long way to go to the end of this story… so be patient… hehehe…  
Again, thanks to my editor: Tegilbor... for his wonderfully twisted ideas… XD  
Okay, that's it for now, remember guys… reviews are hoped for!!  
Thanks!

- FrozenAlchemy ✖


	3. Matter and Memory

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst  
****Editor: Tegilbor  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? And what will be the fatal consequences of their encounter? EdWin.  
**A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews…YAY.**

* * *

"Every one of us is losing something precious to us. Lost opportunities, lost possibilities, feelings that we can never get back again. That's part of what it means to be alive. But inside or heads- at least that's where I imagine it – there's a little room where we store those memories." – Haruki Murakami

* * *

---------------------------------------Her Nemesis---------------------------------------

Chapter 3 – Matter and Memory

_All alone, I sense darkness. A cold, lifeless oblivion. Then I hear a voice. All of a sudden, out of pure nothingness – I hear a voice…_

"_You should be fine, Winry," whispers a soft voice, perhaps that of a phantom. "You are a part of us. You belong here, in Para."_

"_You cannot go away, Winry. You are a part of us. You shall not abandon us." The voice echoes, the word 'abandon' ringing in my ears._

_I then see a glint of dim light in the darkness, revealing a figure of a child. She stands still quietly, her blank eyes staring at the gray floor. Then, I see a pair of long grey arms from the shadow enfold around the girl with the messy blonde hair. But the girl is still silent._

_Another arm is revealed, in front of her. This arm is paler, and somehow more otherworldly than the rest, holding a shiny metal ...a gun. While enchanting my soul with her intricate beauty… she despairs me with complete emptiness…_

"_Take it, girl," hisses the serpentine voice, offering the gun._

_The little girl raises her head, and stares at the arm._

"_Take it," the hissing voice demands, louder than before. "It belongs to you. It's been waiting for you." _

_She reaches her pallid hand for the gun, and holds it against her chest. Her eyes soften, and she feels a strange sensation of warmth. The warmth scares her, disturbs, and worries her… yet something within it comforts her. She does not understand, yet she obeys. She holds the gun closely, and welcomes the warmth._

"_See? It's calling you," says the voice quietly. "She's calling for you, Winry. She's a part of you; welcome her, Winry. Welcome your other self."_

"_Who?" asks the little girl timidly. Her voice is shaking, and unlike the voice of the hands, her small voice does not echo… the silence of the darkness erases her voice. "Who is she?"_

"_Nemesis," answers the dark voice. "Her name is Nemesis."_

"_Nemesis," replies the girl._

"_Yes. That's right. She," whispers the voice again, "is your Nemesis."_

"_My Nemesis,"_

"_Yes, yes… she's your Nemesis… your fate… your doom… and your opponent."_

_The girl says nothing more, and soon the dim light goes out, her figure swallowed by the darkness once more, like the last moment of the dying flame of candle._

* * *

I woke up before dawn with a voice echoing in my head.

_You belong here, Winry… you belong in Para._

I sat on the edge of my bed, examining my plain white room. I thought about the cold voice that echoed in my mind, and held my Nemesis tight. I searched my memory, and thought about the girl who I used to be. I did not remember her, and she never appeared before me. I searched my memory again, and recalled the vague image of the day when Para took my life away from me.

I was seven years old… Then, I imagined my life would be that of an ordinary girl. It was a seemingly normal day, when a pair of strong arms hauled me over and dragged me into a black car. I can picture the green trees in the background, the birds chirping, and the soft wind blowing over the green grass. Yet the scenery quickly changed; seconds later, the image in my mind showed a grey room, something that looked like a prison.

"We've killed your parents and your grandmother, kid. There's nowhere you can run away," said a stout, muscular man in his black shirt.

I frowned, and yelled no. I remember my screams and yells towards the man who took me.

Yet he simply lifted my chin, and stared into my teary eyes. His cold green eyes pierced through mine, and he laughed cynically.

"What a beautiful shade of blue," he said. "Well, not to worry; those eyes would soon shine with the light of hatred and loath. You would live to avenge, and your eyes, would be the witness of your own action."

In the middle of my screams and anger, the only word that appeared in my head was, 'Why?'

* * *

I looked at Nemesis in my hand. She was beautifully made: a black gun with silver linings on the sides, and a purple butterfly carved on her handle. I stared at her, and thought her evil. Yet before I realized it, I had become one with Nemesis; she was the icon of my life, and proof of my existence.

Was it my destiny? My fate? Was it decided on the very day I was born in? That I would have to continue pulling this trigger forever? To walk over the rotten smell of death, and to whisper a goodbye to a dying man? To be haunted forever by the screams of victims and by the smears of blood that tears my soul apart? It hurt me, even to think about it.

I dreamed so many things. I could not even distinguish between reality and dream. I was losing myself; I did not remember who I was anymore.

* * *

Karsh.

He was the only one who was nice to me. He was the only one who would smile at me… and talk to me without referring me as a weapon or an object.

He was the one who trained me how to fight, how to be strong, and how to hold my emotion, which is not necessary in the process of elimination. He was the one who gave me the Nemesis, and taught me how to use it… Karsh was the one who made Nemesis.

"Winry," he said. "As a gunslinger, there is a principle that you should never forget. When you pull your trigger, the cause is the survival of yourself; the method is to destroy the opponent. You should never, ever hesitate, in any circumstance, to pull the trigger of your Nemesis."

"But either way, it takes human life. It creates the same result, the same conclusion. There's no difference, really," I answered.

I did not understand then, that those at whom the gun was pointed looked at my Nemesis as a tool for killing. But to me, the one who pointed the gun at them, my Nemesis is a tool for survival.

He gave me my first mission, and became the witness of my first murder. I was nine years old, when I was ordered to eliminate a woman in her fifties. I neither knew who she was, nor why I had to do it. When I asked Karsh about the reason, he simply smiled at me and said, "It's the order of the Para, Winry. You are bound to do it."

I was bound to do it without any question. And I obeyed, for I trusted him.

Karsh shot the legs of my first victim, making her collapse to the ground, and turned at me.

"Go on, Winry," he said, smiling. "Go on, shoot her head. End her pain… her fear, and her terror."

I raised my Nemesis, and the woman was screaming at me, watching me, in pure terror. Her long blue skirt was stained with blood, and she lay helpless on the floor.

"Monster," she hissed at me, staring at the small girl who was pointing a gun at her. "Don't shoot me, monster! You devil's child!"

Her words struck me deeply in pain. Monster? Am I a monster?

Karsh walked towards me, and held my shaking hands. He bent down, and slowly whispered to me. "It's all right, Winry. It shall be over soon. Just pull her trigger, and shoot the old witch. Give her the honor, of being your first victim. Trust me, it'll be okay."

I trusted him.

I nodded, and with my shaking hand, I pulled her trigger.

The woman screamed, as her head burst and exploded. Her blood sprayed everywhere, and dripped on my face.

I cried. The scene frightened me terribly, and I saw Karsh grin. "That's the way it should be," he said, brushing the blood of my face with his cold hands.

"Good job, Winry. It'll be easier next time," he said, touched my shoulder lightly, and walked away.

I thought he would be always there for me… to guide me with my every job.

Yet one day, when I was twelve, he disappeared. I never saw him again. The only way I could talk to him, was through _The Gate of Janus_, a computer program. He would give me my missions and my jobs, and I would obey his voice.

The Gate of Janus… was the medium between us. I could hear his voice, yet it did not have the same feeling. Though it was the same voice… its tone has changed. Karsh's voice turned cold and harsh. No longer, did it have the same gentle atmosphere, and no longer, did it show his kindness.

But perhaps… it never did show any kindness. Maybe it was just my innocence that blinded me from the reality. Maybe it was just me, and my admiration towards him that became the blindfold. Maybe.

I never knew his real name. He said that calling him Karsh would suffice.

I pictured Karsh in his grey hair, and his smile. He was a young, good-looking man that I viewed as my father… as my brother… and as my only friend.

* * *

Yet he left me alone in Para, and only appeared behind _The Gate of Janus_.

I guess I was scared. But what could I have done? I couldn't just stop in the middle. So I kept going, ignoring my fear, pretending that it had never existed. I wanted to cry, but there would be no point. Yet, before I knew it, before I even realized it, I had fallen deeper and deeper, to the point from which I could no longer go back.

That joyous laughter when I was free… and those sweet cotton candies were nothing more than a vague memory. I could no longer go back, to the past memory that had forsaken me; slowly but surely, it moved away. And before I knew it, those things that I treasured the most were taken away. I could not do anything but to stare at the empty space, and to move forward.

_To move forward_… it sounds like a phrase full of hope, but it actually means nothing more than running away, doesn't it?

I kept on moving… I kept on running, trying to reach Karsh's cold smile behind the gate. I obeyed every word of his, believing that he would return one day. I trusted him.

Yet, all has changed when I met the Elric brothers… when I met Ed and Al.

"_For you, I am disobeying my order for the first time,"_ I remembered myself saying.

Why?

Perhaps it was because of the warmth of their smile that shook me apart. The warmth they emitted was not the warmth that I used to know. It did not scare me, disturb, and make me worried… it simply made me long for the word _friends._

Perhaps, there may be a hope for me, to find a place where I would not be called a monster, where I would not be viewed as a weapon.

Perhaps, just maybe… There may be someone who I can trust, outside The Gate of Janus.

Para has not phoned me yet… _The Gate of Janus_ has not been open since my encounter with the Elrics. But I knew they would, and things would not be pretty then. I could hardly dream of forgiveness for my disobedience.

But it was my own choice. I could have tried to attack them during the night. Yet I didn't. Something within me was changing, and I was aware of it. Something was slowly accelerating, yet I could not stop it. Perhaps I simply did not want to stop.

I found comfort within my hopelessness… I felt ease, within those unanswered questions. I sensed hope within my waiting for a place outside _the Gate of Janus_.

"_We could be friends all over again, right?"_

Edward.

Why did I feel so? I did not understand.

And for the first time… for some unknown reason… I was thinking of somebody else than Karsh.

Why?

* * *

**N/A: ** Just for additional information, Janus is a Roman god of gates, beginnings, and endings. He has two faces/ heads that are back to back from each other. Whereas Nemesis is the Greek goddess of revenge… but Nemesis is also a word English (go search in the dictionary, for complete reference). I 'borrowed' the title _Matter and Memory_, or _Matière et Mémoire, _written by Henri Bergson

Ok, it's done. I hope you guys enjoy that. **Remember to review and give me feedbacks! **Hahahaha. Sorry for the delayed posting… I got a lot of things and home works going on here, and if it's not for my editor who was banging his table, expecting my works to be done… Though it really turns out that even the editor got his work delayed due to all the home works and such. Hehe.  
Reviews are hoped for.  
Anyway, tnx!

-FrozenAlchemy ✖


	4. A New Monster

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst  
****Editor: Tegilbor  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? And what will be the fatal consequences of their encounter? EdWin.  
**A/N: R&R**

* * *

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious." – Albert Einstein

---------------------------------------Her Nemesis--------------------------------------

Chapter 4 – A New Monster

"Winry, why did you disobey my order?" Karsh's voice spoke from the speaker. I sat alone in my room, looking at the computer screen displaying a picture of an opened black gate.

I kept silent.

"This isn't like you, Winry," said the voice again, colder than ever.

I stared at the floor and quietly said, "I'm… sorry, sir."

"An apology will not change anything, Winry."

I nodded. "Sir, I-"

"Silence, Winry. Your apology means nothing to me. There's nothing you can do now. Stay within the base; do not go anywhere… not even a single step out of Para. Do not disobey my words, Winry."

"I wouldn't dare, sir," I replied quietly.

Then there was silence, filling the entire room. For minutes, neither Karsh nor I uttered a word. I sat still, numb, by the heavy, uncomfortable atmosphere. Each word of his reminded me of the cold white hands: the very ones that were strangling the little girl in my dreams.

"As for the two brothers whom you failed to eliminate, I will send another Para member to finish them off. Do not get yourself involved in this particular job which you failed to accomplish. The two brothers are none of your concern any longer."

I kept silent. There was nothing for me to say. My feelings did not matter in this situation. Karsh had made up his mind, and his mind in turn became an order. I should do nothing, but to obey it.

Obey it.

I obeyed him for years, and there was nothing wrong with it. Yet right now, for the first time in my life, I felt a strange urge of resistance flowing from my heart. I did not want to obey it: Karsh, and his order. I wanted to scream that Ed and Al became very important to my life in every way; they gave me a new meaning of life; they cared about me. I wanted to tell Karsh how they opened my eyes once blindfolded. I wanted to disobey Karsh.

I opened mouth, to speak the words that I wanted to speak.

Yet, "Yes sir, I understand," was all that came from my mouth, despite myself.

The screen went black, and the Gate of Janus was closed. I sighed, and looked at the invisible chain that bound me. Sitting on the floor, with my back against the side of the bed, tears leaked down from my eyes. I told myself how pathetic I were, not being able to stand for what I believe.

I hated Para; I hated its chain, and its force. Yet somewhere in my heart, I knew that the true one to blame was myself. Surely I hated the Gate of Janus, yet I hated myself worse; it was I who chained myself up, I, who was being the coward.

I wanted to go against Para.

Yet, to go against Para, would mean death.

However, until at that very moment, I had never felt like I had been living a life at all. All the times in Para, I lived only as a marionette. Like a chained puppet that was used, only to eliminate others. I hated myself, for being a coward.

I never felt my own existence, and had no control over my own life. Yet I wanted to try, and to escape from the clutch of Para… somehow.

"I'm going to get out of Para," I said to myself. "I'm going to get out of Para tonight," I repeated myself.

* * *

It was raining hard. The night was cold and windy, and the sound of rain falling broke the usual peaceful atmosphere of the quiet night. I walked out of my room, clutching my Nemesis tightly. I saw Jade from distance, sucking his pipe while leaning against the back of the chair at his usual place. To get out of Para, I got to pass him. And to pass him, I must shoot him. I did not want to shoot Jade. He was the gate keeper, yet he was not a bad guy. I did not want to fight him… I just wanted to leave the Para quietly.

Suddenly, he turned at me, and frowned. Quietly, he picked up his gun, and walked to my direction. He took no umbrella with him, letting the rain falls down on his face. His eyebrows were twitched, and there was no smile on his face.

"You aren't supposed to be here, Winry," he said, in a tense yet quiet voice.

"I'm going away, Jade," I replied.

He shook his head. "The Gate of Janus ordered you to stay, Winry. I cannot let you go. Go back instead. You mustn't leave."

"No Jade, I'm going."

"Winry," his quiet voice was raised into a warning tone.

At that moment, I knew that further discussion would be pointless. I sighed, and raised my Nemesis as fast as I could, and shot his right thigh. I ran as fast as I could. Jade fell on his knees, and tried to shoot me a couple of times. I did not pay attention to him any longer. In my head, there was only one sentence that I could think of.

Escape, and run away from the Para.

"You know what this means, Winry," spoke my own voice.

I nodded gravely, and continued running.

* * *

I did not know where I was going, or where I would end up being. I did not care, anywhere… would be better than Para; anywhere would be fine.

Then I remembered them, the Elric brothers.

"_I will send another Para to go after them."_

Ed and Al are in danger. I did not know who Karsh sent to go after them, but if Karsh meant business, then it would mean _serious_ business. The one thing I knew for sure was the fact that those two are in danger.

They were good fighters, they defeated me – and I was glad they did. Yet, nobody should underestimate Para. For it is bigger, scarier, deeper, and a lot more frightening that what I could imagine it to be. Para was not a child's play.

I needed to inform them; I needed to tell them that their lives were in danger.

Why?

Because they saved me once.

Yet there was something else, perhaps another reason for my worrying about them: a reason that I did not understand. Not yet.

"_I'm still sure that the Winry I used to know is still alive deep under your conscious mind."_

Who is she? Who is the person who I used to be? I did not want to run away, not anymore. I wanted to understand. I wanted to know, who I really was. The old Winry held the key of the missing thread between me and the Elric brothers. Para had taken enough things from me, and now I wanted to gain them back.

* * *

The rain continued to fall harder as the night went further. By eleven at night, I stood by their door, and leaned against the wall. I did not ring the bell, nor did I knock. I did now want to disturb them, and I did not know what to say to them, after they open the door. There were so many things I wanted to tell them… and about the Para as well. I already took a step of betraying Para. I could no longer go back. I did not know what makes me do it. Perhaps, I was just longing to be freed.

I wanted to stop living as a weapon. I wanted to stop being one with my Nemesis.

I sat down on their porch, taking a shelter from the rain. There were thunders and lightning dancing above – a beautiful, yet terrifying sight. For hours it seemed, I sat there, alone, drowned in my clouded mind. What should I say to them? What kind of face should I show when I meet them? I did not know.

They were so near to me, yet I felt that I did not have the right to reach for them. Standing between us, was a closed door of their house. I did not have the courage to knock; I did not have the courage to face them. I could not think of a good reason to let them allow me to stay in their house.

It was a funny thing for me to think in such a way. Here I was, a monster, a human weapon, a puppet that eliminated many different people – sitting against the wall on the porch – because I was too much of a coward, to enter. I have lived my life inhaling the smell of blood that I had forgotten how to interact with the people who called me as _friends_. I was not worthy.

Lost in my thoughts, suddenly the door beside me opened, revealing a confused looking Ed behind it.

"Winry?" he asked, looking at me in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

I turned and look at him. I was drenched in rain water: my messy wet hair covered a portion of my face, my hands were cold and numb, and my body was trembling. I could not blame him for being so surprised.

He pulled me up, dragged me inside the house, and threw a towel at me. Al, who was sitting on the couch, shared the same shock as Ed.

"Here, dry yourself first," he said.

I dried myself, and drank the hot chocolate that Al made. All three of us sat around the dining table, and I told them my story about them, and the Para.

There was no greeting in our meeting. Yet we all understood that greetings were unnecessary. I knew what they were thinking when they saw me from the look in their eyes… and how they understood mine. It was those kinds of silence understandings that put the warmth in my heart. It was the feeling of security that overtook me, when I knew that I was being understood.

* * *

It had been a week since I stayed with the Elric brothers in their rented house. The military did not know about me, and the Para. Nobody from Para came to get them yet. Nobody came… to get me yet. I had no idea what the Para was planning, and I could only hope, that the day would never come.

Ed and Al slowly told me who the Winry they knew was. They would talk about her, and I would listen quietly, arranging the missing puzzles of her image.

"_Until you guys return to normal, I will be supporting you!"_

It was the old Winry who said the sentence, smiling in confidence. Yet right now, it was them, who supported me. They was the one who showed me how there is always an open path that might lead to hope. It was Ed and Al, who caught me when I fell, and opened my blind folded eyes.

It wasn't me; I did not do anything. Not yet.

Slowly, I saw her coming to me, revealing who she was. She often appeared in my dreams, reminding me about the buried memories that I thought I lost. Yet the more I got to know her, the more I understood that I could no longer go back to who I was before. The difference between the old Winry and who I am today was far too big… the gap between us was unbridgeable. Yet from her, I learned who the Elric brothers were, and who I was to them.

I wanted to fulfill my promise. I wanted to support them.

The days were peaceful and quiet. Behind my head, I knew that I could not rest. Para could come anytime. But for a moment, it was not the most important issue in my head. For a moment there, I was dealing with the one thing that is most foreign to me, for I could not think of an explanation… and for I could not understand what kind of monster myself was dealing with.

Love.

* * *

Love is not a thrilling battle of emotion. It is not a happy ending rollercoaster, and it does not bring back the initial hope that was planted on. Love, is merely, a romantic path of destruction.

I knew it all from the beginning. Everything, by theory. I did not believe in love, for it exists, only in the world that does not concern me.

Love is sharing and caring and giving your heart.

Perhaps so. But in reality, isn't it just a mere illusion created by desire? I thought about it, and I laughed silently at those who suffered from it. I thought of myself as a person who is incapable of falling in love. Yet right now, I could not laugh. There are too many things to think about that I did not know where to start.

"_We could be friends all over again, right?"_

I sighed again, and thought about him. It had been weeks since my first encounter with him. What do I see him as? He was an important person in my life. I considered the possibility of me falling in love, and tried to imagine myself as a person who fell in love… I failed to do so.

I told myself that love is not something that can come so easily, from a mere sentence of friendship. I told myself on how I should not confuse my friendly adoration towards him as love. Edward is my friend, and that was it.

Friends… and that's it? I nodded. Yet my heart was screaming, asking for something more. It is funny how someone can suddenly hitch up to your heart without no warning at all, without you even understanding why.

I looked outside the window, seeing the clear black sky. There were no stars twinkling, and no wind blowing, it was just a plain darkness. How do you know when you are in love anyway? What is the difference between a love and a crush? How could I tell the difference? I did not understand. Everything seemed to be so sudden and new. Yet deep within myself, I knew that the most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. For love is a mystery, a painfully beautiful mystery.

"This is wrong," I told myself.

Seeing myself in this state of mind pained me, for such a thing never happened before. I was just a puppet who worked as a weapon; a puppet who wished to experience the world. Yet now that I escaped, it was not the joy that welcomed me, but it was the sudden feeling of insecurity that overwhelmed me. It disturbed my world, and weighed me down with uncertainties.

Edward. I hate him for making me like this; I hate him for his sharp eyes and confident smirk… I hate him for making me in love with him.

… I'm in love with him?

I never felt so silly before. This wasn't me… not the usual Winry that I used to know. I was changing, faster than before. Perhaps, there was no point of denying it; no point of lying to the fact that I already knew.

* * *

My cell phone rang, and it showed a black gate on its screen: The Gate of Janus. Para was trying to reach me, and to get me back to its clutch.

"Not now," I told myself, and I turned off my cell phone.

My head hurts and I wanted to cry. For a second there, Para seemed to be the least of my problem. What used to be my priority, did not concern me any longer, not at that particular moment. I knew I had to face them later on, I was aware of the fact that I was challenging myself against a monster.

But not now, not at this moment.

* * *

"Winry?" a familiar voice called from the outside of the room. "Are you all right there? You didn't eat dinner just now. I'm coming in, okay?" Al said quietly, opening the door, revealing his hollow armor that carried a tray of food.

The armor put the tray on the table, looked at me, and sat on the floor against the wall.

"What's wrong, Winry?"

"Nothing's wrong, Al," I replied, looking at him while giving a slight smile. "I was… just looking at the sky."

Neither of us spoke a word, and the room stayed quiet for a while. I turned from him and looked back to the black sky. The only sound I could hear was the sound of my own breathing in rhythm with the ticking of the clock.

"Winry?" he finally asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes, Al?"

"Do you trust us?"

"Why do you ask that?" I replied, surprised from the sudden question.

"Just…" his innocent voice answered. It seemed to be losing for words of explanation.

I looked at the empty armor across me, and from his emotionless figure, I realized how he had grown up and was no longer a child. But from one thing I was aware of, none of us are still a child. All three of us were forced, in different ways from one another, yet all of us, were children who had grown up far too fast and come to a crossroad in life through a tragedy… and had chosen to seal away our heart.

"I…" I tried to answer. My voice was hoarse and trembled.

I did not know the answer. His question was not something I was used to deal with. I never trusted anyone besides Karsh, whom later betrayed me. But now, even though I remember who the brothers were… I was still not the same Winry they used to know. Nobody could ever go back to their initial self. Yet I did not know if trust would work the same way.

Do I trust them? Do I trust my friends? Do I trust… the person I love?

Perhaps I should not hesitate longer. Perhaps I should not be too scared to experience something new. I wished for a chance, and it will not happen, until I start to let myself change.

"Yes, Al," I nodded quietly. "I trust you both."

Al remained quiet, yet I could see his invisible smile behind his grey armor.

"Brother would be glad to hear that, Winry!" said Al then, with a much lighter feeling on it.

I smiled at him.

I was happy. I was sure that I was happy. Yet something within me did not react right… there was a strange feeling that I could not refer to… a heavy sensation that weigh my heart down. My happiness was far from complete, yet I smiled anyway.

"You are really pretty when you're smiling, Winry, I'm sure brother would love to see you smile," he said, teasingly.

"Al!" I replied, giving him a funny stare. I was not sure what he meant by that particular comment.

"Al! Where the hell are you?" shouted Edward's annoyed voice from across the room. "What is this cat doing here? Al!"

"Well, I better go, Winry. It's nice talking to you," he said quickly, while running towards the door. "Coming, brother! I was talking with Winry in her room!"

"Winry?" asked Edward to Al. I could hear their voices from the opened door.

"Yes, she's in the room, brother. I will take care of the kitten. Why don't you talk to her?" answered Al hurriedly, followed by the sound of the clanking armor and the meowing of the cat.

I laughed quietly at the two brothers who reentered my life. Staring at the opened door, I thought about Ed and Al… not realizing how cold tears started falling down from my eyes.

"Winry?" asked Ed suddenly, who was now entering the room. He was looking at me with eyes full of concern. "Why are you crying?"

"Ed…" I whispered. I looked at him, and my heart sank down.

* * *

-End of chapter 4

**A/N:** There, it's done. My longest chapter yet… and I hope you guys would enjoy it. Thanks again for my editor: Tegilbor, and the people who reviewed this story. I'll try to update the next chapter faster than this one.

Reviews are hoped for. Feedbacks, ideas, and constructive critics are also welcomed.

Tnx!  
- FrozenAlchemy✖


	5. Loss

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? And what will be the fatal consequences of their encounter? EdWin.  
**A/N: R&R **

---------------------------------------Her Nemesis--------------------------------------

Chapter 5- If Only

"Winry?" asked Ed suddenly, who was now entering the room. He was looking at me with eyes full of concern. "Why are you crying?"

"Ed…" I whispered. I looked at him, and my heart sank down.

Quickly, I wiped my tears, and chocked a small laugh. "Nothing," I mumbled quietly.

He continued staring at me with a scowl on his face, and sat on the edge of the window where I sat earlier, saying nothing more. Silence filled the entire room – a peaceful silence. He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the windowpane. I looked at him and I wondered on how could someone like him, who had been through many different experiences in lies betrayal, be the witness of many different murders… could possibly trust someone like me.

I was an assassin, who tried to eliminate him. And yet… there we were, drowning in a peaceful silence between us. It was simply illogical, impossible, and strange. I did not doubt him for I _could not_ doubt him… he had given me more than anything I had dreamed of: friends, shelter, joy, and a place called home.

It was true, I was in love with him, and I could deny it no more. But there was something within me, perhaps logic or conscience, a force that was telling me that it was simply impossible.

I should keep it to my self, and bury this love within my own heart. He did not need to know – nobody needs to know. Because despite all the joy that I experienced, regardless of the feeling of hope that was filling me in, there was guilt that held everything back.

I was guilty, and there would be a lot more to pay for my redemption, where the least that I could do right now, was to keep quiet and to make sure that the brothers were out of trouble.

"Hey, Winry," Ed said suddenly, breaking the silence.

"Huh?"

"You know… I was wondering…"

"Yeah Ed?"

"Why did you come here Winry?"

I looked at him, startled by his sudden question.

"Well, no, that's not what I mean! I mean Al and I are really glad to have you here… but you know…" he spoke quickly, stammering and blabbering words in an agitated manner.

I laughed. That was unlike the usual Ed who usually spoke in confidence, cool yet friendly voice.

"What's so funny?" he mumbled, trying to pout like a spoilt child.

"Nothing," I replied, still laughing.

He smiled a crooked smile, and sat next to me. "Well," he sighed loudly, and his voice turned serious. "I was just going to ask you… Well Winry, you do know that by being here, you are putting yourself in a more dangerous situation than Al and I?"

I nodded in reply.

"Winry, you don't have to do this. Go back now, go back before it's too late."

I shook my head. "It's already too late, Ed," I said quietly. "The second I disobeyed Karsh's order… I knew that there was no turning back. I _chose_ to disobey Para… It's my decision."

"Why?" he asked.

Why? It should be obvious. I stared at him in disbelief. He was impossible. He did so many things to me… things that I could never repay, and he was asking me 'why'?

"It should have been my question, Ed… not yours."

"What?"

"Geez, you are so dense sometimes," I shook my head, and he smiled a confused smile. "Because we are friends," I said.

Friends, and that was it.

"Oh, I see," Ed replied. He opened his mouth as if to speak again, but closed it afterward.

The silence filled the room again.

"You know Winry? When we burned our house," Ed began. "We thought of burning everything, leaving nothing behind and start a new life at the Central. We burned our house, and the memory of our mother along with it. I thought that… that there would be no point of remembering the death… of treasuring the remembrance that would only bring pain for us. Al and I… we both thought that leaving nothing behind would help us to move forward in a faster pace."

I nodded.

"We didn't want to go back, Winry. Trisha, our mom was gone. Aunt Pinako too, was dead by the time we returned from Sensei's place. _You_ were gone, being taken away by someone we did not know… to a place that we could never reach."

"Ed," I let out small whisper.

"Nothing was left for us then," he continued, with a soft trembling voice. "There was nothing left for us to return to… our houses… the ones that used to be filled with cheerful laughter vanished. Just like that."

I could not say anything in reply for I could not find the words that could comfort him. I sat on the floor next to him, quietly, with sadness filled my heart. I looked at Ed, who was facing the floor as if he was trying to hide his expression from me. I could not see his face, yet I knew that he was silently crying the invisible tears.

My heart was broken to see him in such a pain… to learn the secrets behind his smiles and eyes that were full of courage. I knew how Ed would not let anyone see him crying regardless on how much grief he was experiencing. In truth, Ed was just a dummy… who was trying to act tough in every situation. It was in his nature, that he would never let anyone worry about him.

The pain of losing something as important as a home to go back to must had really hit them hard. Yet the feeling of losing everyone, every person that was close to them? I could not imagine the pain. In truth, I had no idea on whose situation was harder. Ed and Al, who could go back to their house, only to find how everything was being taken away… or mine, where I was imprisoned to forget everything that mattered to me. I did not know, and it did not matter.

"Why are you suddenly telling me all of this?"

"I… I don't know. I just think that you ought to know all these. No particular reason… I just thought that it's the right thing for me to tell you all these."

I smiled and nodded. "It is. I'm glad that you told me. But Ed," I said quietly. "You are the strongest person I know… you know?"

He let out a weak laugh, staring into my eyes. "Yeah?"

I nodded. "When you exchanged your arm to transmute Al's soul… When you decided to become the dog of the military… When you withstood taking the automail surgery, something that would make even an adult to scream… you took them all up, pretending to be so tough and all, not shedding a single tear."

I paused for a moment, taking a deep breath. It felt like there was a lump in my throat, making my voice grew husky and hoarse. Ed kept quiet. His expression was blank and his eyes were in the distance, as if he was picturing the tragic moment that happened years ago.

"I was there Ed," I continued. "I was there, to witness it all. Even though right now, I did not know what happened to you guys when I was gone… at least, at least I _know_ that much. I know about the initial pain that you and Al experienced."

"You haven't changed Winry. I mean… even when you are no longer the old Winry that we used to know… you still have that caring smile of yours, no matter how hard you try to cover it… doesn't matter how Nemesis tried to hide that smile… I could still see it."

We laughed quietly.

"You know, when we burned our home… I thought, that by losing it, we were trying to make sure we wouldn't try to backtrack from what we were doing," he sighed. "But then, I thought, that maybe… it wouldn't hurt to keep one small thing as a keepsake to remind us of her."

He looked at the ceiling, and put his hands over his eyes.

"And so we did," he said, almost smiling.

* * *

The box was no bigger than my palm, fragile, and was beautifully carved. It had a deep dark blue color with silver linings and a small picture of a white serpent's cross on the box's right corner. Ed held the box in his hands, fingering every carving on it with a peace yet sad expression on his face. 

"She left us this," said Ed in a very quiet voice.

"Trisha?"

He nodded.

He took out a small key from his pocket, a key shaped like a serpent on a cross that looked like the picture on Ed's red jacket. The key fitted inside the keyhole on box, opening slowly, and a soft melody was heard. The music played slowly, a familiar tune lingered in my ears, reminding me of the atmosphere back in our home.

"This is…" I asked quietly, closing my eyes, absorbing every bits of the song. A waved of memory overtook me, pictures of our laughter flashed in my mind. For a moment, images of Resembool's green field, and Aunt Pinako's smile appeared, and I could almost see Trisha's gentle smile and loving gestures towards Ed and Al, as she sang the very melody.

"Yeah," he replied. "Remember how we used to dance while she sang this song?"

I nodded. I could vividly remember how the three of us used to dance, moving in circles, hand in hand with laughter filled the air. I missed those times. Unlike Ed and Al, I wasn't there to witness the loss of our home, for I was gone long before. Yet as the soft melody of the music box filled the room, I could not help but to feel the feeling of _loss_.

I did not know how it happened, but Ed suddenly held my hand, and whispered, "Dance with me Winry… dance with me."

We went outside the window to the empty grass field besides the house. Dressed in my shirt and pants, with messy hair from the blowing wind… never before did I feel to be so beautiful in his arms. Ed held me closely, and so was I, laying my hands on his shoulder. Our bare feet moved quietly, and our eyes explored each other's. Mine intertwined in his golden ones, breathing in the intense yet comforting atmosphere.

The moon was bright, and the grass was cold. No words were spoken between us; there was no need to say anything. Our words and emotions were spoken in our actions and stare. It was our dance, full of flaws and sadness… regret within our happiness. A soft melancholic lullaby sang in my ears- the melody that Trisha used to sing.

The melody was once filled me laughter, smiles and hope. Yet it did no more. I closed my eyes, trusting myself in his footsteps.

Our dance felt like the collage of the emotions that I kept within my heart: the emotions that were masked by Nemesis's façade. Within the dance, it seemed that even though there were so many regret, so many broken wishes… there was no room for unneeded flow of tears.

It felt so right, an emotion that was perfectly calming for me. But somewhere within my heart, I knew that the dance was our silent goodbyes. As much as we tried to ignore it, we both were aware of it. And although I could never be sure when was the right time for me to leave, that goodbye in the future should not be too hard. Not anymore.

Al stood by the porch, leaning against the wall. I could see him smiling behind his armor, a smile of satisfaction and relief… a smile for us both.

* * *

"It's awfully quiet this afternoon," said Al, while carrying plastic bags of groceries. 

"Hnn, yeah." We were walking home from a grocery store, and the road seemed so empty. There were a few people walking on the street, a few cars occasionally passing by, and that was it.

Suddenly, in the near distance, I heard the sound that I was all too familiar with – a sound of a gun being fired. "Ed, watch out!" I screamed while turning at him. Ed was already ducked down unto the ground, his right automail transmuted into a metal blade.

Almost in an instant, I pulled Nemesis out, and faced shooter. Four men stood a few meters away from us. The first one was expressionless, tall, with black jet hair, wearing a casual white shirt and jeans, putting both of his hands inside his pocket. The second man was older, gray hair and was dressed in a neat black tux and pants. The third was a bulky bald man with two long swords attached to both sides of his waist. The last person was the shortest one, wearing a black jacket and a black cap that hid his eyes, yet I could see his smirk on his face. His left hand was still holding a gun that was pointed to us – he was the one who shot earlier.

Para… well, no surprise in _that_, it's been a while since I last saw them. I raised my eyebrow; those eliminators did not usually work in a group. I did not know their names, but an introduction was unneeded for me to realize that they were the Para.

"That is rude kid," the gray haired man spoke suddenly. "You shouldn't just shoot at them like that… give them a _proper_ introduction."

"Aa," he replied, nodding before turning at me and shouted in a fake excitement, "Winry! It's been a while!" His gun was still pointing at my direction.

It all happened very quickly then. The three of them charged forward for Ed and Al, ignoring my presence completely. I pulled my trigger to the right, to the direction of the black haired man that was running toward Al. Missed.

"No, Winry… You, are, up, against… me!" the boy with the cap shouted at me, emphasizing every single syllable.

"Tsk," I replied, running toward him, not bothering to ask him why. A few of his bullets passed through me, as I continued running. He was still smirking. "My turn," I mumbled, and shot another blow. It flew next to him, scratching a bit of his right arm's skin.

"Well, I guess the rumor is _true_ after all," he said, leaping backward. The smirk never left his face.

"What?" I shot another blow. Behind me, I could hear different guns shouting, metals clicking, and the sound of transmutation circles. Yet I could not turn my back against him.

He smiled, "They did warned me that you're going to be good."

I did not reply. I shot the next bullet, while swinging nemesis forward to knock him out. It worked, except the part that his bullet scratched my left cheek. Flinching away, the newest bullet went through his stomach. He fell backward, hands still holding into his gun tightly. I shot for another two times, and his entire body smacked into the ground. His black hat fell down, revealing his bright red hair that was dipped into his own crimson blood.

"Ah," he sighed, "Shit, and they said they're going to give me a special gun of my own if I manage to do this." I looked at him. He was no older than I am, coughing the blood out his mouth. "Shou. That's my name, remember it, Winry." And he smirked for the last time.

"Sorry," I said quietly, to the corpse that was lying in front of me. "…Shou." and turned my back, facing the battle between the brothers and the rest of them.

I saw Al standing besides the old man with the gray hair slumped against the wall, unmoving. His long shooter was crushed unto the floor, and blood leaked down from his back, creating a small puddle of blood. Ed was fighting the bald man with the blade from his automail. He clasped his hand together, and transmuted the man's double sword into a long curly metal piece. Watching his reaction, I silently laughed. It took another ten seconds to get the man down on the ground, with his body torn from Ed's blade.

I groaned and looked around to find the man with the black hair. One more to go. Ed charged toward with Al backing him up. The man took both of his black revolvers and shot toward the brothers. Al jumped forward, his armor acted as their shield. A second later Ed leaped, and his blade scratched his opponent's neck deeply. Running towards the man's back, I pointed my Nemesis at him.

For a split second, Ed's eyes met mine, and we nodded. A click was all it took. Ed's blade stabbed into the man's chest, and my Nemesis's bullet shot through his back. Blood splattered in the air, and I did not know whether to smile for relief or to cry of fear. The body fell down with a loud thud, and the brothers looked up to the gray sky and sighed.

For ages it seemed, we stood there unmoving. My body froze by the shock of it all, and it seemed – regardless of how illogical it is – the way we acted in the fight that just happened for the pass ten minutes was purely out of instinct. And as the peace was back, it felt as if a new realization just struck into me. We then move: Al sat on an empty wooden crate looking at the scarlet corpses on the ground. I sat down on the floor leaning against the wall, while hugging my knees and buried my head down. Ed sat besides me, looking down on the floor.

"More will come," I said. "Soon."

"Yeah," Ed gave a short sarcastic laugh. "Not exactly something to look forward to though."

The dry wind blew hard, making the sound of a faint hissing laugh that filled the heavy air.

"This is…" Al began quietly, "Kind of different… than when we were fighting those homunculus… I can't exactly say what it is, but somehow, this feeling of loss, is a little heavier than before. Right, brother?"

Ed sighed and kept quiet.

"It _is_ different, Al. Those homunculus… they were monsters. But these people…" I paused for a second while staring at the four men we just killed. "They are _humans_."

"Winry…"

"They are just like us. Those people there, were living, breathing, human beings who had their own emotions and dreams."

"Yeah, I know, Winry. But then, they attacked us. They attacked you, brother, and me. It's only fair that we fought… it's just an act of defense, an action of survival… to keep us alive."

"But I used to be like them… I know how it feels like to be a puppet whose purpose was to eliminate someone. Yet I-"

My mumbling voice was cut down by surprise: Ed suddenly gripped my hand and squeezed it hard. "Look," he said quietly, "Maybe you are right about the part that you used to be like them, that you were a puppet and such. But not anymore, you are different now. You made the choice of becoming unlike them. Winry, you are no longer a part of Para."

"We are team now, Winry," Al added. "The fact that we fought earlier, despite the fact we had to kill them… was for the sake of continue living, to protect each other, and to survive in every circumstances, and… the point is,"

"We are alive Winry, the three of us, all of us… we are alive," Ed said quietly, adding to Al's saying while looking at the ground.

"Yeah, we are alive," I agreed, weakly nodding to the fact. A moment of silence filled the air, until I whispered, "It's true… but until when? When will this end? When is the time where we could live without fighting?"

"There's no telling for it. We just have to keep fighting, going to the direction we believe is right. Until then, all that is left for us to do is to fight, and to hope. That's it."

I took a deep breath, and buried my head down, fighting the tears down. "You know," I whispered, "I never really thought about it. Every time I eliminated someone, I just pulled the trigger, and bang. It was hard, painful, even… yet I never really thought where we would go after death. But now… all these questions just appeared out of nowhere, and I just don't know anything."

Ed squeezed my hand again. "It doesn't really matter. As long we keep on living, it won't matter. And when the time comes, we will naturally find the answer out. Right now, the greatest gift is being able to live… just believe in that, and you'll be fine."

I nodded.

"You're one of the strongest person I know. Just keep going," Ed said, almost in a whisper. "That sounded so tough, doesn't it?" he said again. "So simple, and seemed so easy to follow. In truth, those are the words that I always say to myself to keep me going, and to be able to show my smile for Al and for everyone."

"Brother…"

"Let's go home, you guys. We better leave this place soon if we don't want to find more trouble. We got enough for today."

We stood up, and walked away. I gave a one last look at the scarlet corpses, before turning my back against them. The brothers walked in front of me, Ed raised his hands behind his head and continued walking. I watched their backs and smiled quietly.

_Just keep going._

Perhaps it was true, that none of us were as strong as we appeared to be… or as tough as we wished we were. But with those three simple words, I silently knew that there might be a chance for us to survive. It was the unspoken promise that we held between the three of us, to protect, to take care, and to smile for each other. It seemed naïve, yet it was the only thing that kept us moving forward.

We had lost everything: our childhood and our family. The only left for the three of us was the bond that we cherished, the promise that we kept, and the hope that we treasured.

_It'll be all right._

If only that was true… if only we could keep the hope forever… we would be fine.

"If only," I whispered. And the wind blew again.

* * *

-End of chapter 5 

**A/N:** School is over! So the update should be coming quickly then.

REVIEW! I love every single review that you gave… heehee.

- FrozenAlchemy✖v


	6. Goodbye

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst/ AU  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? And what will be the fatal consequences of their encounter? EdWin.  
**A/N: ENJOY! R&R**

---------------------------------------Her Nemesis--------------------------------------

Chapter 6- Goodbye

"Winry! Did you see Al?" Ed came running toward me, panting slightly.

I shook my head. "Why?"

"I can't find him. He's…. missing."

"What?"

"He's missing," Ed said again, with frustration written on his face. "Al's missing."

I stared at him and blinked.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

Sweat poured down on Ed's face. "I don't know… This morning he said that he's going to go outside to buy something, but until now…"

I looked down at my watch: 11 pm. So something's wrong… Very wrong.

"Para," I spoke the first thing that crossed my head.

Ed turned at me and said, "This isn't the first time."

"Huh?"

"Al has been kidnapped before… by a homunculi." His voice was full of worry, while his movement was restless and agitated. He tapped his foot on the floor, sank down, before standing up again. He shut his eyes closed as if he was figuring something out. I had never seen Ed like this before.

Cold sweat dropped down from my face. What have I done?

"Uh, Ed?" I spoke suddenly. "I need to go check something out now. Just stay here in case Al comes back home."

He stood up and looked at me. "Check something out?"

I nodded. "I won't be long."

"Is it something to do with Al?"

"I don't know."

He paused for a second before saying, "I'm going to look for Al too."

"Don't come with me, Ed."

He stared at me for the last time, "Just make sure you come back home, okay?"

I nodded again. "Goodbye, Ed… be safe." I waved at him before opening the front door and a heavy rain greeted me.

I sighed as I opened my umbrella. Why was it always raining? But raining or not, there was something far more important for me to do.

And so I ran.

* * *

My feet took me to the all too familiar gray building. A neon sign "Prelude Insurance Company" flickered in the rain… same old, same old. Nothing had changed. I inhaled a deep breath, and a cold shudder came to me. Was it because of the cold wind, or of fear - I did not know. Yet never did I thought that I would be back here, standing in front of the gate once again. Or even if I did, I never expect it to happen so soon. 

The gate opened by itself, the security post office was empty and deserted. How strange. I clenched my Nemesis tightly against my chest, and walked inside. Honestly, I did not know what I was doing… walking straight into the enemy's base just like that. Ignoring the strange situation of the open gate, for Para _never_ opened its gate freely. My action denied my logic; it was like me, welcoming the danger, entering the trap, and ignoring the risk.

It was stupid, I know.

Yet I continued to walk in anyway. There was nothing I could do but to continue walking inside. That was the only thing, my only chance, to save Al and to return him to Ed. The sound of my echoing footsteps as I walked through the gray, empty corridor was the only sound that my ears could pick up.

My heart was beating so fast, and my palm started to sweat. Why do they have to make it to be so complicated? They could have shot me at that very moment, surrounded me with their force, and that would be the end. But the corridor was still empty, and I was still alone. There was no sound of anybody breathing, no sound of the slightest movement being made, but mine alone.

Was the corridor always been this long?

I walked a little faster, and from the distance I saw an open door. My eyes went wide for a second, and clenched my Nemesis tighter. Biting my lips as I walked forward, a million 'what ifs' crossed my mind.

"Winry!" greeted a cynical voice as I walked through the door. I jumped back a little, and quickly scanned the room.

There was nobody there in the room, but an empty sit, and a set of computer on the table. A black gate appeared on the screen: The Gate of Janus.

"Of course," I thought, not knowing whether to be relief, or to be more anxious.

"Karsh," I mumbled to the monitor, and a short laugh replied me.

"Winry! How are you! Where have you been! You have no idea how worried I have been!" the voice said again, with no hint of the slightest worry and the same cynical sound in it.

"Where's Al?"

"Al?" the voice asked again. "Is that what you call Alphonse Elric as now? My, my… how friendly! You guys must be good friends!"

My jaw tightened, and my fist clenched.

"That armor boy… he's fine. Now let's talk about you, Winry," Karsh's voice grew more serious in every second. "Do you know what you've done?"

My shoulder tensed, yet I kept silent.

"I asked you," the voice said again, in a hissing voice. "Do you know what you've done to Para, Winry?"

I closed my eyes, and replied shortly, "I left."

"Hmm, left… betrayed… being disloyal to… and all of those bad things. Why? Out of _all_ people, I never thought that you would be the one who will betray us… betray _me._"

I kept quiet. Where was he going with all of these talking? What was his plan?

"Remember? When you first came here, I took care of you with my _own_ hand. I even crafted Nemesis for you… and what did you repay me with, Winry? Why did you come back to _them?"_

"I was simply returning to where I belong to. They are my friends, Karsh."

"Maybe they were… but why did you forget the fact that you belong only to Para? Don't you understand? The moment you took Nemesis with you, the moment you welcomed her warmth, you are forever bound to be a part of Para?"

I froze for a moment, and inhaled a deep breath. "What are you trying to say, Karsh?"

The voice kept quiet, and though I could not see it, I knew that he was smiling that cunning smile of his.

"A deal," he finally spoke.

"What do you mean?"

"Simple: a person for a person; a life for a life. What do you say?"

A lump appeared in my throat, and I closed my eyes. I should have known.

"But why? You can kill me right here, right now. I've betrayed Para… death should have been the only way."

"I wouldn't do that, Winry. You're far too precious. Para… cannot afford to lose you."

What? What was he trying to say?

"You know what to do, right? Return to us, and Edward's going to get his brother back."

Why do you want me? For what? What good could I do for Para? I was not a perfect marionette.

"Why do Para need me?"

"An answer is unnecessary, Winry. I was only offering for a deal, and _not_ for a bunch of explanations."

My cold fingers went numb, and I knew that it was the only way. Nobody should ever get hurt anymore. Especially not Ed and Al. I wanted to ask why, to demand for him to give me a reason, or even to beg him to stay away from my life. Yet I kept my mouth shut, and nodded. Deep down, I knew that the deal he offered was the best choice that I could ever get…

…And the most realistic one too.

I fingered the small serpent's cross key that was hanging around my neck like a pendant. "Deal," I replied.

"Tomorrow night, 11 pm, the usual place, Winry. Until then, goodbye." His voice was indifferent and even. Yet even with my eyes closed, I knew that Karsh was smiling as he was watching me through his monitor from a place I knew not about.

I sank down on the floor, leaning against the wall while staring at my hand that was clenching Nemesis tightly. I did not know what to think anymore. I did not cry, nor did I weep. I simply sat down, lingered within my own empty confusion. My head seemed blank, I could not think anymore even if I wanted to.

"_You're far too precious," _

What was he planning? Why me? I did not understand, and the thought scared me. But I knew, that Al's safety comes first. I would have to deal with the rest later. For now, the only option for me to do was to play along.

My cell phone vibrated and a message from Ed appeared: '_Winry, where are you?' _

I smiled and sighed. The clock shows 2.47am, and the rain was still pouring. Less than 20 hours till goodbye...

My fingers held the serpent's cross key tightly, caressing its cold metal feeling. Ed and Al gave it to me, in which they reasoned I was a part of their lost memory, and that I should hold a part of the reminiscence of the music box.

"Promise us that you would return it to us someday, Winry," 

I knew that it was not just a memory holder, but it was more of a promise that I would be with them forever… or that if one day I would go away - I would return to them soon enough. It was the symbol, of our friendship that was given for me as a keepsake.

I'm sorry Ed.

I closed my eyes, and rested my head against the wall. Only then, I realized how tired my body was. I tried to stay awake, to think about what Karsh was saying, to think about Ed and Al, and what will happen tomorrow night, and to think what will become of me, and them. But before I knew it, I sank down into the darkness of a restless sleep.

* * *

The night was silent and peaceful. A slight wind was blowing in the distance, carrying the dry scent of winter's ocean. Alone, I sat down on a wooden bench in a deserted street. A dim street lamp flickered occasionally as if it was trying to keep its light on. I looked at my watch: 8.20pm. Looking at the clear sky, I opened my cell phone. 

"Hello?"

"Ed? Hi," I said to the phone.

"Winry! Where are you? Did you find Al?"

I kept quiet, not finding the right words for me to say. I looked at the street in front of me, of closed shops, and empty warehouse lining along the empty harbor.

"Are you there?" his voice asked again.

I wanted to say sorry; I wanted to wish him a proper goodbye. I wanted to tell him where Al was, and what Para was planning. I wanted to tell him everything. Yet I knew that I should not. What came out from my lips then was, "Ed, can you meet me at the Central's Harbor by 11 o'clock tonight?"

"What?"

I took a deep breath, "Central's Harbor, tonight, 11 o'clock. See you then."

And I closed the phone.

* * *

When one was tensed in waiting, time seemed to flow very slowly. The ticking of every second seemed to raise my anxiety even further. After what seemed to be ages, I saw a figure in a red jacket with golden locks hanging from his hair, walking briskly, and was scanning the empty street. Quickly, I moved away from where I was, to a place where he could not see me. When I was close enough, I walked behind his back, making my steps as light as possible. 

"Ed," I called him from the back, and pulled my Nemesis out.

Feeling the cold tip of Nemesis behind his head, Ed stopped and froze in shock. "Winry, what are you doing?" he said in a low, quiet voice.

"Don't move, Edward," I breathed. "If you make any sort of movement, even in the slightest gesture… I'll _pull_ this trigger."

His body tensed, yet it remained still. Perhaps I took him by surprise, but deep down, I knew that Ed had been expecting this to happen. Though he tried to shut away the possibility of this moment, I was sure that Ed had anticipated it… yet ignored it, because it was _me; _because he wanted to give me a chance, and because he thought of me as a friend.

I took a deep breath. "They've got Al. He's in that empty warehouse down to the right corner."

"What? How do you know?"

_Why did you ask that, Ed? Why? You know that by doing this, I'm betraying you, and that I'm bidding goodbye to our friendship. You know the reason, Ed. You know. You anticipated it to happen, so why are you asking me this question? Forget about the personal sentimental value… forget about the unspoken promise of our friendship. Open your eyes, and see what I'm doing. You know what this mean._

"After this, you must go there immediately. You'll find Al there and he's fine. You'll have to go there without me, Ed."

"Winry, why are you doing this?"

_I'm sorry._

"Does it mean that you are going back? That… that you'll leave us and return to _them_?"

_I'm really sorry._

"But WHY?"

I closed my eyes, and sighed, "It's the only way."

_It's the only way for you and Al to be together again… the only way for you to be happy… to return to your normal life._

"No it isn't. Winry, there must be another way. You can't return to them… You just can't."

His voice was a mixture of anger, confusion, and desperation.

_It is for the best._

"I wish we could have met in a different situation, Ed… and that things would be different then."

_I love you._

"Winry, no. Just go away from them… come to us… don't ever return. We are friends, right?" His fingers clenched tightly into a fist. From the distance, I could hear the faint sound of rumbling waves, hitting harshly unto the shore.

"You have to save Al. He needed you the same way you needed him."

_I'm just an outsider, an intruder. A shadow from the past who should never returned in the first place._

"Al wouldn't be happy to know that you have to sacrificed yourself to save him!"

"Then you choose to _leave him_??" I shouted. Everything was getting desperate.

Silence.

He sighed, and bowed his head down.

"Maybe we can start all over. You can return to us when we got Al back. Then everything would be all right."

_But there's no next time._

Clenching Nemesis, my palms began to sweat, and my voice began to tremble.

"There would be no such a thing called next time, Ed."

_I knew better. I learned it, through countless of broken hopes, promises and trusts. There would never be a second chance._

"Why not?"

If it was a different situation, and if we were not in this position - I knew that I would smile for Ed's naive optimism. He was like a matured adult, who has been through so much in his life. Yet for some reasons that I could never understand, he always managed to keep the bits of his hope up. And if only, things were a little different, I did not doubt that I would be smiling.

Yet there was no denying it. Like it or not, we were in _that _situation… where I was pointing my gun at him.

"Just go for him. Al… Just go before it's too late. You have to go back…"

_Back to your everyday life, back to your initial routine. Back before you know anything about me, the new Winry._

"But I'm not leaving you here."

I growled in frustration, and my voice grew cold. "Ed, you seem to forget your position. I have the gun here, and it'll take only a second for me to pull this trigger."

"But why, Winry?"

"Go!" I hissed.

He froze and sighed. A second later, he ran away from where I was standing. I watched his back from the distance, going further and further away from me.

He never looked back.

"_Why, Winry?" _his last sentence rang in my ears.

_Because I love you._

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and fought the tears that were falling down from my eyes. And into the still darkness I felt myself disappeared for a moment.

_Goodbye._

* * *

-End of chapter 6 

**A/N:** The military side is coming out in the next chapter… and the beginning of a new war.

REVIEW!

- FrozenAlchemy✖


	7. Voices in the Dark

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst/ AU  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. Will her fate change, when she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog? And what will be the fatal consequences of their encounter? EdWin.

**A/N: Thank you for all of the readers and reviewers!**

* * *

---------------------------------------Her Nemesis--------------------------------------

Chapter 7- Voices in the Dark

(Third person's point of view)

He sat behind his desk, his chin leaning on his own hand, staring at the younger boy in front of him. The younger boy folded his arm across his chest, sitting down, while leaning against the chair.

"So Fullmetal, are you planning to tell me what's been going on?"

Ed rolled his eyes for a moment before shrugging, "There's nothing going on here, Mustang."

He raised his eyebrow high in reply, and continued to stare at Ed and Al intently. "You've been attacked… twice. Then Al's been kidnapped. And now you're telling me there's _nothing_ that's been going on here?"

Silence. The younger boy simply sat still, and there was no change of expression on face; his eyes revealed nothing.

Mustang sighed, "We've been through this, Edward. First, there was Scar, then the homunculus… now this." He moved his stare to Al, who was sitting next to Ed.

"As I've said before," Ed began, gritting his teeth all the while, "There's nothing for me to tell, and there's nothing that's been going on here… or even if there's something, that's really none of your business, Mustang."

"It concerns the military," he answered simply, leaning back against his chair. "Fullmetal, after all _these _years, I thought you would understand. _You_ are the dog of the military, and anything that concerns your life and safety, also concerns the military."

Al shrugged, looking at his brother yet kept quiet.

"What are you hiding, Edward?" Mustang spoke again. "This isn't a simple matter you know."

_Yes, I know. The thing is, I'm not even sure myself about the answer. _

"Fullmetal," he said again, standing up from his chair, "What are you trying to protect?"

_Para… Winry… Why?_

"Nothing,"

Sighing, Mustang sat back on his chair, and opened the drawer from his desk, holding up a brown envelope. "You see, you two aren't the only target around here." He opened the envelope, and took out a bunch of papers from it. "You see? These are the files of the murdered military personnel and staffs."

"What?" Ed answered, grabbing the papers and examined them. His eyes opened wide in horror and shocked. There were photographs of the dead, all covered in scarlet blood, lying down on the ground in different positions. "…No way," he murmured quietly.

He read the descriptions; observed the pictures carefully, all in a dead silence. When he closed his eyes, more pictures flashed in his mind, everything in a quick blur. Pictures of Nina, the chimeras, homunculus, and figures covered in blood, splashes of crimson on the wall with the sour smell… then, out of pure nothingness, _his _smile appeared in his head…

…Maes Hughes…

Ed's eyes snapped open, cold sweat streamed down at the back of his head.

"_Why?"_ He thought, "_Why them?"_

Al too, was looking at some of the files with full of horror. "Brother," he whispered.

"There are seven murders in total; seven murders in a week. Fullmetal, what are you thinking?"

He ignored Al's voice and Mustang's question. He stared down unto the papers, yet his mind was in somewhere else. Anger was written in his eyes, blankness and confusion mixed with uncertainty flowing down in his vain.

Ed shook his head_, "What is their purpose?" _

"_It's a lot more complicated than you think, Edward," _her voice spoke in his ears.

"_A murder in a day… But, it's the military… it should've been different," _his mind protested._ "These are trained military personnel, damn it… So how?"_

"_For it is bigger, scarier, deeper, and a lot more frightening that what you could imagine it to be," _her distant voice spoke again, sounding like an alarm, a bell that was indicating the time to fight.

"So," Mustang spoke again, breaking the silence in the room along with Ed's thoughts with it. "Tell us what you know, Fullmetal."

"Us?" Al asked, looking up to the Flame Alchemist.

The door then opened, and a man walked inside. His grey hair glistened in the light, and there was a long deep scar on the right side of his neck. The man smiled, and took a sit next to Al. "Faus, information department, at your service."

"Yeah," Al nodded, while Ed kept quiet, frowning. There was something disturbing about Faus, which he did not know what. Perhaps it was his cold distant smile that seemed to be so fake, or perhaps it was the way he talks, how his voice always seemed so cynical and bitter. Or maybe, it was just because of the sentimental feeling he held, as he watched Faus being in Hughes' position that gave Ed the feeling that the family-loving-man was being _replaced_.

"He's the one who compiled all these files, Fullmetal, and the one who researches about _Para_."

"How'd you–" snapped Ed, turning his head to Mustang, whose expression was still and indifferent.

"So you knew," he replied, looking back at Ed from behind his table.

Ed gritted his teeth, "So do you."

"Well, so this is _the_ Edward Elric and Alphonse," Faus suddenly spoke, breaking the silence between Ed and Mustang. "I've wanted to see what you two are like."

The brothers kept silent.

"So, what do you know about Para, Edward?" Faus asked again.

"Nothing. Now, stop asking me all these questions. What makes you think that we know anything about Para anyway?"

Faus showed the smile of his again, the one that seemed so cold and distant. "Well, you two are their first targets, am I right?"

"So?" Ed replied shortly.

"And the fact that you two are the only one who survived _both_ of their attacks," continued Mustang. "Fullmetal, you managed to save Al, who had been kidnapped by them. Just why do they bothered to kidnapped Al and not murder him instead is a question on its own. But how you managed to save him from their clutch, is indeed, a bigger mystery for the military."

"Al's been kidnapped, but not murdered, maybe it's because he's not exactly _in_ the military," answered Ed quietly.

"I'm sure that's not the real reason," Faus replied.

"How do you know?"

He smiled in reply, "Just a feeling."

"I think that this case is relatively different than Scar's case. Fullmetal, Para has eliminated a lot more people who are never been involved with the military before. By killing Al shouldn't make a difference, and yet," Mustang paused his sentence, looking directly into Ed's eyes. "Just how did you manage to save Al, Edward? How did you know where to look?"

"_I didn't. She told me where Al was. I didn't save Al… she did."_

Yet he kept quiet, sealing his mouth shut in reply, and merely shrugged.

"Fullmetal, you aren't cooperating. Remember, you aren't the only target. At this very moment, new targets might very well appear."

"Somebody from Para who knew where Al was came and confronted me," Ed replied. _"That's not exactly a lie, right?"_

Mustang kept quiet, leaving Faus to asked, "And?"

"I won the battle, and so I got Al back."

"That simple?" asked Mustang.

Ed nodded in reply.

"I still got the idea that you aren't telling me everything, Edward. And I'm sure that you aren't going to let another information passed your mouth right now," said Faus while standing up from his sit. "But we'll leave it there for this moment. Please do consider about telling us the truth the next time we meet. Excuse me for now." And he left.

"I don't trust him," mumbled Ed to Mustang.

"He does his job," the older man replied shortly. "Right now though, you seemed to be hiding more things than he is, Fullmetal. I hope you would really consider what he said."

"Right."

* * *

"Brother, why didn't you told them the truth back then?" 

Yeah… why?

"I don't know, Al. I really don't know."

"I see. But, shouldn't you…"

"I don't know Al. I'm going to sleep now. Goodnight," replied Ed, walking into his room.

He laid on his bed in the dark bedroom, his hand covering his face.

"_Brother, why didn't you told them the truth back then?" _Al's question popped in his head again.

"_Maybe because you trusted her too much," a voice appeared in his head._

"_What?" Ed thought in reply._

"_You were always been hoping that she would return to you. That she would be with you and Al forever… right?"_

Ed couldn't help but nodded in the darkness, answering to the voice that was unheard for anyone but him.

"_But why, Edward? This isn't like you… You've known better. You've learn not to trust anyone, especially those who are your enemy."_

"_She isn't an enemy," Ed said back in defense._

"_She attacked you, didn't she?"_

"_That was at first. She didn't know us yet, didn't remember who we were to her yet. It was different. We are friends now. I trusted my friends."_

"_And yet, she betrayed you, didn't she? She betrayed you, even though she remembered who you are. She betrayed you, and went back to Para. She could find another choice. But she didn't. Edward, open your eyes. Forget about the sentimental values. She betrayed you. She betrayed your friendship."_

Ed kept quiet. His fingers clenched his bed sheet tightly.

"_This isn't like you Edward. This is stupid. Stop denying it. You know that she is indeed the enemy; that she's a part of Para, and there's no denying in that fact. What made you trust her? Why? You were never this trusting. Never been this incautious and naive. So why?"_

"…_I don't know."_

"_Face it, Edward… open your eyes. Face the fact that Winry is a part of Para, while you are a part of the military. And if it's not simple enough, then let's just face this: Para kills innocent people, and she is one of those murderers. And you are saying that she isn't the enemy?"_

"_But it wasn't her voice. She… she tried to betray Para for us."_

"_And yet she went back to them."_

"_That was to save Al. She did it for good. She..."_

"_Why do you want to defend her so badly?"_

"_What?"_

"_She isn't your childhood friend anymore. The old Winry you used to know is dead, buried somewhere, and will never return. What is left is an eliminator, a murderer who shared the same name as your childhood friend. That's it."_

"_But,"_

"_Edward, why did you hate Scar?" _the voice cut through his sentence, breaking through his every defense.

"_Because he killed innocent people! Because he killed anyone who he thought was sinful, and went against his path! He didn't think of other's live as important! He treated human lives as-"_

"_And how is she different that him?"_

"…" He could not answer, he didn't know how.

Perhaps it was because of her rare smiles that always managed to lighten up his heart. Or perhaps it was because those sad looks in her eyes, the way she often gazed away to a distant land, as if was to search for something she would never reach - that would sent a jolt in his heart, a wish to care for her in every situation it is. Perhaps, it was as simple as because everything about her reminded him of the good old times, and how she would bring back the memories of his home.

But perhaps, he didn't need a reason.

"_And how is she different than Scar?"_

"_Because she's Winry," _he answered quietly.

Because she was being herself, and by that reason alone, he was glad that he has met her for the second time. Perhaps there are still a million other reasons that he will need to explain, a lot more motives that he will need to think through. But at this moment, a twinge of sensation of an unfamiliar feeling was there to make him be so sure, that by answering the question with one seemingly simple answer… it was enough. It was a start.

"_Why?"_

"_Because she's an important person in my life."_

"_Which one? The old Winry, who was your childhood friend… Or the new Winry, who is now a member of Para?" _

He opened his eyes in the darkness and smiled, _"Both."_

"_It'll only bring you trouble. Remember, Edward… this is a war. Thinking such a thought would only result in a mess."_

"_I know."_

"_We don't have room for such a feeling. Such an emotion is unnecessary."_

"_I know."_

"_So why are you betraying your logic?"_

"_Honestly, I still don't know the exact reason. And it doesn't matter; I don't think a reason is necessary. But at least, I know what I should do now, something that I should have done a long time ago."_

"_What is it?"_

"_I'll bring her back," _he answered simply. _"True, Winry's a part of Para, and that she's one of those eliminators. But then, Winry is Winry. It'll be all right. It'll work out, somehow."_

"_And you could only hope," _the voice spoke again.

He nodded. A hope is sometimes unrealistic, and is often idealistic. A wishful thinking blended with naivety and mere optimism. But it was the one thing that could carry on dreams, and the one thing that would make them stand in the middle of a mess. Perhaps a hope would only resulted in disappointment and a chance of regret and loss in the future…

Yet he hoped anyway, for the very same reason why we all dreamed, regardless of the disappointment that we may face. Perhaps, just maybe… There is nothing wrong in being able to hope, to wish, and to cherish the dreams of the future – despite of how seemingly unrealistic it is.

"_Don't say that I didn't warn you,"_ the voice of his logic spoke for the last time.

"_I'll survive," _he mumbled, before closing his tired eyes.

He knew that he was not being his usual self, that he was ignoring the logic and consciousness that he always followed.

"_Because she's an important person in my life."_

It was a start, perhaps that of a path of destruction. Or maybe, if he was lucky enough, everything would really turn to the way that would make them smile. Yet which ever path that was, through those simple words... great consequences will appear before them. Yet at that very moment, ignoring the war that was starting to heat up, forgetting the consequences that he may face in the future, he closed his eyes and rested his head for a moment, drifting into a peaceful dream.

It was a start.

* * *

-End of chapter 7 

**A/N:** I took a break from Winry's point of view to be a third person's point of view, to get another look from the military's side. I hope that turned out okay. In truth, I'm not as excited with the story as I used to be. But I already planned the ending since a long time ago, and I really wanted to get there to finish it. So be patient, I'll definitely finish it.

**Please review?**

- FrozenAlchemy✖


	8. Silent Trigger

**Title: Her Nemesis  
****Fandom: Full Metal Alchemist  
****Disclaimer: I do not own FMA  
****Pairing: Edward X Winry  
****Rating: Teen  
****Genre: Action/ Drama/ Angst/ AU  
****Summary: **Her childhood was abruptly taken away from her, leaving Winry as a cold, deadly assassin. By order, she had to eliminate Edward, the military dog. Now, a new war between the military and her base has erupted. How will they react to this? EdWin.  
**A/N: ENJOY! R&R**

---------------------------------------Her Nemesis--------------------------------------

Chapter 8 – Silent Trigger

I was walking down to the coffee shop in the Central. It had been a while since I ever took a walk like this again. About three months ago, I believed. In those three months, so many things had changed, in a quicker pace than what it took me to realize what was going on. Only in a time like this, when everything is so peaceful and quiet, that I was able to rethink the whole scene over again; playing the words in my head, and swallowing down the facts bit by bit.

Three months ago, I remembered, I had not meet Ed and Al, nor received the order to eliminate them. The works back then was quiet, quick, and had never been this complicated. Three months ago, never did I thought, that the day I pulled the trigger for Ed, was the initial day, the starting point, of the war between the military and the Para. The war, that was going to turn the city upside down.

Could anyone be changed so much in only three months? I did not know. I never imagined that I would. But in these past days, I experienced so many different things, witnessed so many different actions, and learned so many different questions. Yet everything, only resulted in further confusion. I sipped my coffee again, strong and black.

Where could Ed and Al be right now? Where is Karsh? What is he planning? What am I supposed to do? There were too many different questions, and not a single answer. But there was another question, something that I preferred not to ask, but it was there, haunting all of us.

Who will be next to die?

It seemed like Karsh was the only one who held the answers for all of these questions. Yet he was somewhere where I could not reach. I shook my head quietly. I needed to find Karsh. I had too. But the question was how. Then my cell phone suddenly rang. What a coincidence, I thought. I heard Karsh greeting from the other side of the line. The same cold, voice rang through the receiver. He did not called me to give me a new job, but simply to talk about the military's condition. Lately, Karsh never gave me any new orders, and I began to doubt the purpose of me being in Para. For them, I was an eliminator, a puppet whose purpose was to kill. Yet without orders, I was nothing but a nuisance for them; a puppet, without a real purpose. Not that I wanted to get any orders, but it simply added to my list of questions.

He spoke again, "Now, the military is in a quite… how should I say it… hmm, destructive state, perhaps? Ah, yes… yes… chaos, and confusion… just the way we planned it to be."

_You planned it, not us_, I thought.

"That military boy of yours… the military doesn't even trust him anymore, I'm sure. Nobody trusts anyone anymore. Seven loses till yesterday, and one more before the moon appeared tonight, I'd imagine. The sad thing is, they can't even find who we are. Ah, well, it'll be just a matter of time."

I gripped the handle of my coffee cup tightly, "How do you know all of these, Karsh?"

He remained silent, but I could pictured him on the other side of the line, smiling.

"Did you send someone from Para to the military?" I asked again.

"I don't need to send anyone there. It's really unnecessary. Now, the main issue is you, Winry," he answered calmly. "Now I'm sure that you haven't been in any contact with those military boys, am I right?"

A lump appeared in my throat, "Yes," I managed to reply.

Karsh was smiling again; I could feel it so clearly. "Ah, then there would be more problems then. I appreciate that you obey me, Winry." His voice was light and casual, yet in the same time, contained a weight so heavy, completely over taking me.

I nodded. "Yes."

"Good. Remember, you are bound to Para, bounded to _me_. Be like a good girl and everything would be fine, all right?"

I frowned. What does he want? What is it that he's planning? I closed my eyes, my left hand clenching Nemesis. "Karsh?" I asked. "Where are you?"

"Why?"

…Because I want to know more about what you are planning. You are keeping me in this place, watching my every move, where I know nothing about you. Understanding nothing but the memories that I kept from years ago… "Nothing," I answered.

"Then, it's unnecessary for you to know."

I remained silence, letting out a breath, and he closed the connection.

* * *

I did not stay in that shop for long. After I closed the phone, I walked away, looking at the busy street in front of me. Again, nobody paid any attention to me. In their eyes, perhaps, I was nothing more than a high school girl, taking a walk in her day off. Nobody looked at me like I was some kind of a monster, a heartless eliminator like when I was pointing my Nemesis at them. In this way I guessed, Nemesis was the only the connection I had, the only prove of my existence as a Para. 

Yet I could not let her go, for I had gotten in far too deep, for far too long. Long, before this moment, there had to have been something worth crying about. Yet right now, when so many things mingled together, I could not think of any.

I continued to walk, not really paying attention to anything, but was lost in my own thoughts. And then, someone bumped unto me in a turning corner, so hard, that I thought he did it purposely. We both fell on to the floor, and he mumbled apologetically. I was about to open my mouth to scold him, and leave when I saw his figure in a red coat, and blond hair that was covering his eyes. I knew immediately, and clumped my mouth shut.

Edward.

My first reaction was to look around, yet I could not find Al anywhere in view. Nobody on the street seemed to be paying attention to us. I breathed in relief. A moment later, Edward left me, without a single word escaping from his mouth. He stood up and walked away, like a complete stranger. It was then, that I noticed a small white envelope lying on the ground, and I picked it up. Edward must be the one who dropped it.

The envelope contained a photograph of the Harbor when we last parted, when I betrayed him. On the left side of the picture was the empty warehouse, labeled number six. Behind the photograph, a pencil mark, written in a small font, almost too fain to see: _February the 23__rd__, 3pm._

The only thing I could make out of this was that Ed wanted to meet me on the 23rd of February, in that empty warehouse besides the harbor. In a way, I was glad, that I could see Ed again, to know, that he was still in a good shape. But despite all that, my anxiety grew even further. I took a look at the photograph again. There was nothing unusual about it, and one could even mistakenly take it as a postcard picture. I tucked the picture inside my coat, next to my Nemesis.

* * *

The night before the 23rd of February, I was unable to sleep. I lied awake on my bed, thinking on what kind of things would happen tomorrow, and all the consequences for it. 

It was half an hour before three, when I reached the harbor. There was a small lock outside the warehouse number six, and the key Ed gave me, fit perfectly into it. With a little click, the lock snapped open, and I entered. The warehouse was damp and dark, an empty forgotten space with the smell of old rusty metal in its atmosphere.

I looked around, and saw no one. I walked around it, slowly, observing every details of it. There was nothing much left in that warehouse. Some empty crates, rusty metal pipes, and nothing much. I took my time looking around, and neither Ed nor Al came by. Was it a trick? I thought. I shook my head. Nah, it couldn't be. It was almost four, when I decided to go outside. But something caught my attention. Near the door, was a small white envelope, similar to the one that Ed dropped earlier.

I picked it up, and read.

_There is no need to say my name, or yours. You know who I am, and you know why I am speaking for you. _

_If you are reading this letter, then the chances are that I cannot meet you right now. _

_Things at base are getting more and more chaotic. As the days passed, the anxiety increased, only welcomed by the terror which I cannot describe. Only few are trusted, and it has become, where I could no longer see who are the friends and the foes. _

_They think that I have the key, the answers of their questions. While in truth, I do not. _

_Yet in the middle of it all, I cannot stop thinking of everything you've said to me. For you are the one who hold the real key. I refused to believe that you've gone away from me, forever. That you really had betrayed me, and returned to them. What is it that they are planning? I know that it is a war, or a beginning of a new destruction. Alchemy cannot protect without a purpose, and right now, I need a reason. _

_I hope you trust me for the same way I trust you. I never think that our meeting was a coincidence, or an illusion of coincidence. Everything is real, and the more I think about it, the more I'm convinced that perhaps the whole reason for us to meet, so that we can stop, or at least, delay this war._

_I wanted to meet you, and to talk to you directly. There is so much I want to say, so many questions that I want to ask. For the sake of us all, let's meet three days from now, at the same place, on the same time. This is not a trick. Trust me, it isn't. I'm not writing to you right now for the sake of my base. In this case alone, something told me that I should not be bound, nor listen to the others of my home completely. My brother and I, we both stand alone, in the middle of it all._

_You are my only connection to all of the answers for this matter. But maybe, above all, I just missed you. _

So Ed knew. That the military and Para are keeping their eyes on us. The links are nearly connected. The war is already begun, though almost in silence. The only missing pieces so far, were our selves. I needed to see Ed and Al.

I looked at the paper, gripping the edges so tightly, as if I was to get more meaning by rereading it over, and over again. Until to the point, that I no longer read the words, but observing the way the words are written down, and how the ink was printed onto the paper.

I walked outside, locking back the warehouse, and left. Walking slowly, I thought about the things Ed said in the letter over and over again.

_For you are the one who holds the real key, _He said. But he was wrong. I was not the one who held the key that would answer all these confusion. Karsh was the one who knew everything. I considered the last talk that Karsh and I had. And if what Ed said was true, then we could trust, or depend on anyone. I needed to talk to Karsh again. I had to meet him. That was the only way we can solved this problem.

The minute I got back to the Para base, I sat in front of my computer and waited. That was the first time I remembered, wishing to see the Gate of Janus, hoping to get a chance to talk to Karsh so desperately than ever.

The midnight struck, and I pulled out Ed's letter, rereading it all over again. _But maybe, above all, I just missed you,_ it said, andI smiled. I knew that there was a war going on out there, outside these grey walls that were surrounding me. I was fully aware that there might be someone dying, or maybe being in the verge of death. Yet I could not help it. Selfishness was taking control of me…

…and I felt content.

It was not exactly an overflowing emotion of happiness, or an urge to burst out of delight. It was simply, a feeling of content ness, a gentle flow of security that was overtaking me. It felt like was drowned inside a child's innocence, a hopeful sense, to know that there was someone who misses me. Damn, I whispered to myself, shaking my head. To be so moved by a simple sentence was beyond my reasoning. It felt like I was not in charge of my own self anymore, that I had no control over my emotions. This is a war, I said slowly. Emotions and sentimental feelings were the last thing I needed.

The next day, much to my surprise, a military barrack was being burned. A gas failure explosion, said the newspaper. But I learned to never believe what the paper said. And I was sure, that it was the Para. Chances are, the military knew about it too, but decided to keep quiet about it. As far as I knew it, the public and the people were unaware of the silent war. It'll be just a matter of time: a few months maybe, or even a few weeks before the whole city would be in terror.

I pictured Karsh, sitting in a room, observing everything with a smile on his face. I was almost sure that he was enjoying the whole situation like an attraction, a life drama, perhaps. Or simply like a chess game. Everyone was his pieces, and he stood behind the shadow, grey hair glistening in the dark. I thought again, and another picture came to my mind. Maybe Karsh was playing as one of the pieces, being one with the game, enjoying its thrill, like some kind of a sick ecstasy. _I kill therefore I exist;_ he smiled, and blended in with the crowd.

My jaw tightened as these images came to my mind. They seemed to be so perfectly clear, almost as if they were real. I put down the newspaper, and as if on cue, the Gate of Janus appeared.

"Karsh," I spoke quickly. "I need to meet you."

"Why?" he asked, though from the tone of his voice I knew, that he was not surprised at the least.

"I need to discuss something with you, something that I can't discuss through the Gate of Janus."

"I see," he replied. "And what could that _something_ be?"

"You will know when we meet."

"That is very interesting, Winry. I'm very impressed. In all my years, you are the only one who ever dared to ask me to meet you directly. It seemed that I had not been wrong about you all along." His voice was cold, emotionless, and machine-like.

I kept quiet.

"When do you want to meet me, Winry?"

I was stunned. I never thought it would be this easy. I never thought… that he would agree, on meeting me. "Tonight, if possible," I answered.

He was smiling again. "Of course. You wouldn't want to waste anymore time, would you, Winry? Then tonight it is. May I choose the place or time of the meeting though?"

What is he planning?

"Yes," I answered, and he filled me with the details.

"Thank you, sir," I replied. The gate went off, and I sighed in relief. My heart was beating so fast, and not knowingly what to do, I stood up, and walked outside. It was almost three, almost the time of my meeting with Ed. I breathed in. There will be a lot of things happening today.

* * *

I took the same route as three days ago, taking my time slowly. In a way, I knew that I was excited. But there was another part of me that felt otherwise. I was afraid. I was scared if he did not come again, for the second time. I did not want to face the disappointment all over again. It was not that I did not trust him. It was everything but _that._ I walked slowly, trying not to get my hopes too high. I should be prepared, I thought to myself. I should be prepared for the worse scenario possible. But I could not. 

And after what seemed to be forever, I arrived in front of the empty warehouse. Almost like a mechanical movement, I took out the key, and with a small click, the lock opened again. I walked inside, and closed back the door. The air in warehouse was damp and dark like before. I looked down to my watch: a little past three and I sighed.

"Yo!" greeted a voice.

I gasped, and looked around. Ed was sitting on one of the wooden crates with his typical messy blond hair, and was grinning like a child.

"Ed!" I let out a small smile and sat next to him.

He looked at me, and stretched his hand high. "It's been a while, isn't it?"

I nodded. God, it felt so good to see him again. I wanted to give him a big smile and hug him because I missed him too much. But instead, I looked around and asked, "Where's Al?"

"At the military headquarter. We need to keep an eye on them, just in case. Besides, it'll be easier to see you when Al's not around. No offense to him, but that armor of his… is really quite easy to track, don't you think?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I answered.

"The military is keeping their eyes on us. So I had to sneak to come here. Sorry about last time."

I nodded. "That's okay," I answered. "Well, Para doesn't really trust me either. But for some reason, after what I did to them, they didn't even lock me up, or give me any kind of punishment. That's really strange. I don't know what they are thinking."

He kept silent for a moment, thinking my words carefully. "I think Para is quite similar to the military. They both are waiting, patiently, for us to lead them to one another."

"Yeah I know," I sighed. "Both of them are waiting for us to make a mistake. But I don't think that's the only reason. Both of them are two powerful bases. They should have other plans, than just to wait for us to make a mistake. I mean, what if we never really meet each other anymore? That plan might be true and work at some point, but it's just simply unrealistic."

"No, they were sure of it. They knew that we were going to meet again. There's no base or proof for me to say that, but I'm sure about it. But yeah, you're right. It's simply too unrealistic. They must have other plans. And that's why Al's staying there right now. Right now though, everything seems to be too peaceful. Maybe murders are happening, but it is way too silent. It felt like the bullets are fully loaded, and all it needed, was something to pull the trigger off."

I looked at him, staying silent. He took a deep breath, and continued, "It's like we are in the eye of a storm."

"In the eye of a storm," I repeated, and nodded. "But what could that trigger be?"

He shook his head. "I don't know. Al and I are trying our best finding it out. What do you know about Para? What are they planning?"

I kept silent.

"Winry," he said quietly. "I need to know, now. It's important. Because maybe… we can stop it."

I looked at him, "I'll try to find out, as soon as possible. But I don't trust the military either, Ed."

He went silence for a while, before giving a slight nod. "I don't trust it either. It's getting chaotic in there. And there are possibilities that some of the personnel there are secretly betraying the military."

I remembered what Karsh said to me earlier in the day.

"Ed, I don't know for sure… but I think there might be somebody from Para who's working for the military right now."

He frowned and nodded, "A spy, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"That'll make a lot of sense. The problem though, is that it's almost impossible to know who that someone is. Though I did get the same feeling about that, and so Al is staying there for a while."

"You know when Al was kidnapped," I said suddenly. "Did Al recognize any of kidnappers? Like if they seemed familiar or something?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Of course not. We'll know it straight away, then."

"I see."

We talked for hours, weighing every possibility of their plans, and what could trigger up the war; every odd and risk of our action. Everything, except one. Little did I know then, that the one forsaken option, a feeling that I was trying so hard to ignore, was the one that would bring everything to an end.

My love for him.

It was almost seven when he said that he needed to get going. "I can't stay out for too late, or they'll suspect something. This is just so annoying, but we can't be too careful."

"Yeah," I replied.

He then turned at me, and looked straight into my eyes. I froze, and looked back in return. He opened his mouth a little, as if he was going to say something, but closed it afterward. Without me being able to stop it, my heart began to beat harder, and I could feel heat slowly appearing on my face; I could have sworn that I was blushing. We both stayed silent in our spot for a while, before he stood up, and waved.

"Goodbye, Winry. Take care."

I nodded. "Goodbye."

He went outside the warehouse, closed it afterward, leaving me inside. I glanced down, and sighed.

The clock ticked slowly. An hour left before my meeting with Karsh.

* * *

-End of chapter 8 

**A/N:** ooOOoo, the climax is nearing, people!!! Stay in tune. Lots of new ideas are coming, and this fic is going way beyond my original plot. But in a good way, of course… and so I hope that you'll like it! I started throwing hint starting from the last chapter, but maybe you just got to really squint to get it. Ah well, doesn't matter… if you don't get the hint, then it might also be better: be ready for surprises then.

**Please review!**

- FrozenAlchemy✖


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